Transformation!

 

 God has commanded us not to conform to this world but to be transformed. (Romans 12:2) Do you ever think that change is impossible? That it is too hard? God assures us we can be transformed into the image of His dear Son. But how does this happen? Where does it begin?

The first step is to ask yourself if you truly desire to change?  At times we only think we desire something because we know we are supposed to desire it. So, look inside your own heart and see if you truly desire to change. If you realize that you have been lacking in desire, ask God to forgive you, and renew your desire in Him.

What is your motivation for change? Our motivation for change should be that we want to bring glory to God. It is not to earn our salvation or have other Christians admire us. We seek to be transformed into the image of Christ so that we may reflect Him in our lives so that He will be glorified. We were created to be His image bearers in this world. Since sin entered into this world, the world has become a dark place. Christ came into the world as the Light of men (John 1), and as we are transformed into His image, we reflect His light to others. We are not the LIGHT but reflections of His light, and oh, how this dark world needs to see our light which points them to The Light.

The Scriptures reveal that this transformation begins with the renewal of our minds.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

How are our minds renewed or made new? By the Word of God. There is no way to discern the will of God, to know what is good and acceptable apart from the Word of God. This world teaches us to be worldly, to seek worldly success and fortune, and to put ourselves on the throne of our hearts. The Word of God teaches us how to be transformed to the image of Christ, to reflect Him, to seek after eternal things rather than the temporal glitter of this world. The Word of God reveals the true treasure–God Himself. Seek the highest treasure-seek God.

Second Corinthians 3:18 reveals more insight into how this transformation takes place.

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 Cor. 3:18)

The only action attributed to the believer in this passage is the beholding of the glory of the LORD with unveiled face. The act of transforming us is attributed to Christ and His Spirit. The Holy Spirit directed Paul to use the passive form of the verb which indicates “we are being changed”. Changed into what? Changed into His image. How are we changed? By beholding the glory of the LORD. How does beholding the glory of the LORD change us? It is quite simple. We become like what we admire and focus our minds upon. We become like what we love. What we love, admire, and worship is what we will become like. Thus, if we love, admire, and worship The LORD, we will become like Him.

How can we behold His glory if we spend most of our time admiring the things of the world and only a few minutes thinking about Him and spending time with Him? We can’t. It is not possible to spend most of our time and to focus most of our attention on the world and become like Christ.  We must spend time with Him. We must mediate upon His Word (Psalm 1), and mediate upon His works. (Psalm 19;Isaiah 5:12) He must fill our thoughts throughout the day. We should make Him our first thought in the morning and our last thought at night.

Let us desire to be transformed into His image. Let us behold His glory so that we can become like Him. Let us reflect His light to others. We have been given the tremendous blessing of becoming like Him, and the serious task of leading others to Him.  If you are anything like me, reflecting His light to the world can sometimes be easier than reflecting His light within the walls of your own home. Let us never fail to remember that we should first reflect His light to those nearest to us…it always begins at home. May God bless you in your desire to reflect His light at home and then out into this dark world of sin. May God be glorified by the way we live!