One of the ways that God changes us to become like Jesus is through hardships. We struggle to find answers on our own, we worry and doubt and fear often, we fall short over and over again, and we feel like many tasks in front of us are impossible. But, in time we learn to turn to and trust in the wisdom, strength, and grace of God as He transforms us into people of faith through our struggles. Hardships can be like hard workouts, strengthening us and shaping us for the better. As we face struggles, let us not forget this: sometimes God will change the situation; sometimes God will use the situation to change us.
Jesus Will Change Us When We Ask Him
People often reject the gospel because they would rather rely on good advice for what they need to do rather than receive good news about what Jesus will do for them. Humans love self-help strategies that promise you can fix yourself until they inevitably find that these strategies don’t actually help self. Well-meaning sayings like toughen up, lighten up, buck up and cheer up are just a set up that make us want to give up. Real, lasting change will only come when we ask God to begin and complete His good work in us so we can live by His power. He’s ready, willing and able to do it if we’ll stop trying to do it ourselves.
Focusing On The Inside
Many people strive to look stylish, look good and look fit. And while the Bible emphasizes modesty and simplicity for believers, this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t value our outward appearance as well. However, it is important that we value who we are more than what we look like. We should focus more attention on our hearts than our hair, our minds than our makeup, our character than our clothes, and our personhood than our physiques. By grace, let us pursue becoming who we were made to be, knowing… Godly character is in style within us. Morals look good on us. Christlikeness is a nice fit for us.
Beloved Sons And Daughters
The One who knows us most is also the One who loves us most. He sees every sin, every shortcoming, every struggle … and He sets His affections upon us anyway. God loves us just as we are, but He loves us enough not to leave us as we are. When we put our faith in Jesus, God begins to transform us into people who both hide less and less and have less and less to hide. He doesn’t expect us to change our lives before He welcomes us into His family, but rather He welcomes us into His family and then He begins to change our lives. Remember today: We are not fully changed, but we are fully loved sons and daughters.
From Who You Used To Be
Every human knows what it feels like to be stuck. Stuck in repeated mistakes, personality flaws, bad habits, unfulfilling rhythms and inner unrest caused by our sinfulness. But God in His grace sent Jesus to get us un-stuck and offer real transformation for those who put their trust in Him. This is what becoming new in Christ means: a change in our standing with God, a change in what makes us happy, a change in what controls our lives, and a change in what our eternity will be like. He changes everything! Trust Him day by day and watch Him change you from who you used to be into who you were made to be.
If God And I
If God and I don’t think the same way, it’s me that is thinking wrongly. If God and I don’t speak the same way, it’s me that is speaking wrongly. If God and I don’t act the same way, it’s me that is acting wrongly. God never adjusts His ways to match mine, but is continually and graciously transforming me to be more like Him. So… It’s never right to conclude that God is wrong. Yes, He does things we can’t understand. Yes, He does things we don’t like. Yes, He does things we wouldn’t choose. But He absolutely never makes an error in anything He does. Let us trust in this: He knows what He is doing, even when we don’t.
The Fix Is Jesus
Our world is not going to get better until we realize we cannot fix ourselves. The fix is not in more laws or more freedoms. The fix is not in more penalties or more incentives. The fix is not in more pre-education or more post-counseling. Whatever entry you want to add to the list … that’s not it either. The fix is Jesus. Only He can transform us from rebellious, idolatrous sinners into the glorious image-bearers of a loving God we were created to be. When we turn to Him again and again in faith, He will… Change our minds. Change our hearts. Change our lives. He takes our broken pieces and puts them back together again.
Has He Started That Good Work In You?
Has He started that good work in you? How can you and I know that we have received God’s grace? There are two really good indicators that your faith in Him is genuine: you have a growing hatred for sin and a growing love for Jesus. You don’t just want to be free from the consequences of sin, but sin itself. You don’t just want to have the blessings of God, but God Himself. There is a desire that begins growing inside of you to experience all that God has for you, in this world and the one to come. You believe in Jesus for the first time, and then you believe in Him more fully over time. We grow. That’s how we know.
He Makes Us Into Different People
Faith is saying “yes” to God’s grace by agreeing with Him that you’re a sinner who cannot do anything to make yourself good enough to be accepted by Him, and then by asking Him to begin a good work in you to increasingly change you into a radically new person that is acceptable to Him. Faith is also saying “no” to our old lives of indifference and rebellion to God by turning away from them to Him. We mean it when we say of our sin: “I did it. I regret doing it. Help me not to do it again. Lead me to something better in you.” When that happens… God doesn’t just give us different lives; He makes us into different people.
I Understand
There are two words that Christians ought to use regularly to encourage believers and engage with non-believers: I understand. We get it that perfection isn’t possible. We get it that mistakes will be made. We get it that flaws will come forth. We are all sinners who struggle with being the people we were made to be and doing the things we were made to do, even if we have been following Jesus for decades. We never outgrow our need for His forgiveness and help. Others need to hear us honestly acknowledge that we are fellow-sojourners who fail and fall too. And that we know where to go for grace when we do.
We Did It, But Jesus Died For It
An incredible burden is lifted when we rest in the forgiveness that is ours in Jesus. We can apologize for our shortcomings and admit our wrongdoings because His grace covers them all. Every wrong thought. Every wrong attitude. Every wrong motive. Every wrong word. Every wrong action. We’re not perfect, and we don’t have to pretend to be. Yes, we strive by grace to grow into the new people Jesus is remaking us into, but we don’t have to fake it, hide it or rationalize it when we fail. We can own it because of this glorious truth: it is forgiven. Move on from sin and shame… We did it, but Jesus died for it.
In The Lord
As Christians, what we do needs to be grounded in what Jesus graciously has done, is doing and will do for us. Otherwise, it will become a joyless, hopeless burden on us. It’s not just “be strong,” it’s “be strong in the Lord.” It’s not just “rejoice,” it’s “rejoice in the Lord.” It’s not just “hope,” it’s “hope in the Lord.” It’s not just “boast,” it’s “boast in the Lord.” It’s not just “have faith,” it’s “have faith in the Lord.” It’s not just “stand fast,” it’s “stand fast in the Lord.” Self-confidence and self-effort will sooner or later lead to self-despair and self-destruction. Remember: It’s not about trying really hard; it’s about relying on the Lord.
Told What To Do
Most people don’t like to be told what to do. Our immediate response is usually pushing back or pulling back from those who are giving us unwanted instruction or information. We want to make our own choices for what we will and will not do based on what we like and do not like. But as we trust Jesus more fully, we increasingly… Like to hear His voice. Like to receive His guidance. Like to have Him tell us what to do. Why? Because we know that He loves us and will speak to us about what is best for us. Let us follow Him in faith today, knowing that whatever He has us do, we will like it very much in the end.
If You Do It Out Of
If you do it out of duty, you’ll be resentful. If you do it for attention, you’ll be prideful. If you do it just when it’s convenient, you’ll be neglectful. But… If you do it because of love, you’ll be joyful. Obeying Jesus isn’t a matter of duty, show or convenience; it’s a matter of the heart. Our affection for Him produces our devotion to Him. We don’t say and do the right things because that’s the way we should live, but because that’s the way should love the One who tells us what things are right for us to say and do. May grace continue to change how we feel about Him so that more and more His wants become our wants.
New Appetites For Better Things
An evidence that you are a genuine, growing Christian is that you want to be freed from your sin, not just forgiven of it. It’s not just escape from the penalty and consequences of sin that you desire, but escape from the power and control of sin as well. Those who love Jesus will inevitably and increasingly hate their sin. We are not perfect, but we want to be. We will fail, but we wish we wouldn’t. We like some wrong things, but we long for change. Jesus will soon fully deliver us from sin, but until then, let us pray for Him to progressively replace our taste for wrong things with new appetites for the better things He has for us.
Freedom Means Having No Regrets
Freedom isn’t just wanting to do something, being in a position to do something, and having the ability to do something. Real freedom is all of those things plus no regrets over what you do. You’re not really free if you have the desire, opportunity and ability to do something that you later wish you hadn’t done. Only Jesus offers this kind of full and forever freedom. He takes away our enslaving sin and all of its pain, and makes a way for us to experience life with God and all of its pleasures. Freedom comes by receiving through faith all that He graciously gives us to enjoy without guilt. Restraint free. Regret free. Really free.
Jesus Took It Seriously Enough
You’re going to get wobbly against temptation. You’re going to stumble in your faith. You’re going to take a fall into sin. And here’s what you’re going to find when you do: Jesus is there with grace. Grace that forgives you for what you have done, and grace that frees you from doing it again. And Jesus will repeat this over and over again for the rest of your life. Now… Don’t mistake this for a license to sin. It’s not a loophole or permission slip or pre-paid ticket to live unrighteously. So, let us both repent and rejoice at this: Jesus took our sin seriously enough to die for it, and He took grace seriously enough to die for us.
Pardon For Sin And Power Not To Sin
God loves us, but He doesn’t approve of everything we think, say and do. God took our sin seriously enough to put His Son Jesus to death in our place; we should take our sin seriously by fighting against it instead of trivializing it, rationalizing it or fraternizing with it. Let us feel godly sorrow for our sin, but may that conviction give way to celebration of the forgiveness and freedom that is ours because of Jesus. Grace means there is pardon for our sin and power not to sin. We fight against it, we fail in the battle, we fall into mercy, we fight on, we finish. For those who are trusting in Jesus… Grace always wins in the end.
Unfinished, But Not Unloved
A semi-painted canvas doesn’t show the whole picture. A rough draft doesn’t tell the whole story. A list of ingredients doesn’t look like the whole entrée. Similar to these things, you and I are works-in-progress in the transforming hands of our loving Father. And He will continue changing us from who we used to be into who we will be. We are… Unfinished, but not unsaved. Unfinished, but not unfixable. Unfinished, but not unloved. Because God will finish what He starts in you, you don’t have to give in to despair when you stumble in your faith or give up in trying to live out your faith. He isn’t done yet. And neither are you.
Knowing And Knowing About
There is an enormous, eternal difference between knowing Jesus and knowing about Jesus. We can know about someone without being in a personal relationship with that person. So, how can we be certain that we really know Jesus and we are really bound for heaven? We look for evidences that He is changing us from the inside out. Knowing Jesus transforms us into people who increasingly, though imperfectly… Love His family. Desire His will. Value His mission. Treasure His word. Choose His way. Long for His return. Delight in His presence. No one who truly knows Jesus is ever left the same.
