07/29/2019
Is your faith consuming you like a living fire? Is the old person who first heard the call of the spirit still the same one you are today, or is the corruption of sin, that was once a part of you, being burned away so that you are transformed into the pure image of the Lord? Perhaps your transformation is such that you don’t recognize it as occurring until one day you see your reflection and are amazed at who you have become.
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV
Yesterday one of my wife’s cousins sent me a list of eight guiding principles by which the scientist, and inventor, George Washington Carver lived his life. As I read them I heard the resonance of something very familiar, and as I researched his life a bit further I understood why...
George Washington Carver was a Christian man of amazing brilliance, but he was more than just a brilliant scientist, he was also a man who lived his life by some simple yet extraordinary principles, and encouraged others to do the same. Here are the eight virtues he lived, and taught his students...
1. Be clean both inside and out.
2. Neither look up to the rich nor down on the poor.
3. Lose, if need be, without squealing.
4. Win without bragging.
5. Always be considerate of women, children, and older people.
6. Be too brave to lie.
7. Be too generous to cheat.
8.Take your share of the world and let others take theirs.
These were not the only wise words attributed to him... George Washington Carver also spoke these words...
“When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world."
And in reading this quote, it reminded me of the life of Jesus Christ, and prompted me to look back again at the life of Dr. Carver, and the eight cardinal virtues he lived by. You see, having found Jesus at an early age, he was indeed a man of faith, and when I looked closely at the common virtues he extolled... I found his faith written into his principles, and realized they were actually comprised of scriptural principles which were expressed, as he had put it, in an uncommon way. Here they are once again with the supporting scriptures as I was led to find them...
1. Be clean both inside and out.
“You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.”
Matthew 23:26 ESV
2. Neither look up to the rich nor down on the poor.
“My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, "You sit here in a good place," while you say to the poor man, "You stand over there," or, "Sit down at my feet," have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?”
James 2:1-4 ESV
3.Lose, if need be, without squealing.
“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.”
Philippians 2:14-16 ESV
4. Win without bragging.
“Thus says the Lord: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord."”
Jeremiah 9:23-24 ESV
5. Always be considerate of women, children, and older people.
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
James 1:27 ESV
And...
“"You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.”
Leviticus 19:32 ESV
6. Be too brave to lie.
“those who are left in Israel; they shall do no injustice and speak no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue. For they shall graze and lie down, and none shall make them afraid."”
Zephaniah 3:13 ESV
7. Be too generous to cheat.
“"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:19-21 ESV
8. Take your share of the world and let others take theirs.
“They said, "Caesar's." Then he said to them, "Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."”
Matthew 22:21 ESV
I am not certain that Dr. Carver meant to establish a direct correlation between his principles and any specific scripture, but I do know that he spoke outright about his conversion to Christianity, and about his faith, and I do know the process of our transformation in Christ. This is how many of us are transformed... we read, study, pray, and listen to the voice of Jesus until our lives begin to look like his, and our virtues resemble his character almost completely. We might manifest Christ and resemble his character in a slightly different way, or language, but the underlying thoughts remain His.
Through our faith we are most certainly transformed. Some of us hear the voice of the spirit in a soft whisper deep within us and call it conscious, some see a more open and direct relationship to scripture and call it conviction, but however we come to acknowledge it, feel it, and call it... this is the transformative power of our faith at work through the Word of God.
So step back and take a good look at who you are today. If you are a Christian what do you see? Is it the same person who first came to Christ? Has your life changed in ways that you hadn’t really acknowledged before? This is because God is guiding you and providing you with counsel.
“Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.”
Psalms 73:23-24 ESV
And, If you are not currently a person of faith, but have read this article, and looked at the scripture it contains, then what you are feeling is the gentle tugging of the spirit, and your life is beginning a journey of spiritual transformation that has already begun to change who you are. Look at Jesus Christ, and ask yourself who He is, and see the life He lived; then ask yourself if this is a man you want to know better, to be like, or to give your life over to. By merely brushing against His garment, as you have while reading today, you are changed, but if you truly accept Him then the transformation will astound you, make you a better person, and bring joy unspeakable into your life.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the small still voice that first called me to you, and for the transformative power of your Holy Word, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ that has been changing who I was into who I am today. Thank you for the change in my character that has come in so many ways... some readily apparent, and some so subtle as to pleasantly startle me when realized. Help me Father to follow your Son Jesus more closely each day, and to become as He is. Give me the ears to hear, strength to follow, and the eyes to see your will for my life, and through your gifts and insight change me into the person who will, and can, obey you completely. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who calls me to be as Your Son is, and through Jesus to become more as you are each day. Praised be your name for each touch that changes who I was into a more righteous person. Great are you who can transform the sinner we once were into the perfection of Jesus Christ. All glory is your Heavenly Father, brought to fruition by your mercy and grace, and witnessed by the conversion of my life.
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Romans 5:1-5 ESV
Rich Forbes