All tagged transformation
We say we are Christians but continue to live our lives of faith like suits of clothes; we treat our belief in Christ lightly and only let it brush up against our skin, when we should actually be taking Jesus into our very being, our hearts, and making our faith like the communion meal reveals... a part of us.
When we accept Jesus as Lord are we open to a complete life altering change in who we are, or simply asking Him to alter us in a few handpicked ways? Do we want to become like Jesus and be transformed into His perfect image by becoming a better and more righteous person, or do we simply want to pick and choose those attributes He exhibits that we believe will serve us well in our existing lives? Let’s ask ourselves questions like this… Do I want to be a slightly kinder person, or do I want to be kind as Jesus is kind? Do I want to be more humble, or do I want to be perfectly humble as Jesus is? God wants us to be transformed, but to what degree are we willing to accept the transformation? Will we conform to a complete mental, behavioral, and spiritual change and in so doing obey God’s will for us in its entirety?
In the day of Jesus, like today, a person could argue against Jesus, and that sin would be forgiven him if he repented, believed, and asked for forgiveness. Saul was certainly guilty of speaking out against Christ in those days when he persecuted the Christians, but later, after having met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he was converted, and his sin of having spoken and acted out against Jesus the Christ was forgiven. For those among us today who have spoken out against Christ there is also hope, forgiveness, and redemption. No matter how bitter your words, or actions, might have been, the hand of Christ remains extended to you. Forgiveness and eternity are just a prayer away.
When we pray in contrition, and confess our sins, do we ask God to not only forgive us, but to change our hearts as well? In the midst of our sorrowful and broken hearts, do we ask Him for help in cleansing us of the desire to continue on in sin? Are we looking for more than God’s pity and mercy as He forgives, and ask Him for His transformation as well? After He had forgiven someone Jesus said “Go and sin no more”, but don’t we need help in doing this? Yes, so Pray for God to make our spirits right!
Do we desire to be more like Jesus with each passing day, and if so do we really know what He was like? Sometimes we think we know Him when we don’t; we take a human trait that we personally admire and attribute it to Him, but as we do so we are elevating Him in our own minds. When we do this we are in fact glorifying ourselves by modifying Jesus to accommodate an image we have of ourselves.
When we fear the Lord and seek after Him, we receive His blessings throughout our journey, but even this doesn’t mean we will not be without pain and suffering. We can strive to obey the commandments of our Heavenly Father, but in doing so, we pay a price in sacrifice. Before iron can be reshaped into something useful, or beautiful it must enter the furnace, and before clay can become fixed in its new shape, it must be fired. So it is with us as Christians... our redemption comes with a price, and our rebirth into a new creature requires an often uncomfortable transformation. So we rejoice in our trials, and claim the blessings they make real in us.
Our hardest, and most painful lessons in life are generally the ones that change us most completely, and can remake us at a very basic level. It is easy to teach someone how to do a certain thing, like to make up their bed when they get out of it, or brush their teeth each day, but to teach them to be a different person... not be afraid of heights, or to love God more intensely, requires a much deeper experience, and that often involves suffering, and affliction.