Excellence Requires Transformation
Transformation is embedded into the design of our lives. It’s not an option - it is a must.
It’s not for some select people. We are all artwork waiting to be fully realized. God doesn’t create anything ordinary. Everything He creates is done in excellence. From the pastors to the janitors, from the doctors to the teachers, from the wealthy to the homeless, from the educated to uneducated, from the creatives to the designers, the bus drivers and the pilots, the scientists and the astronauts, the cooks and the servers, the young and the old and everyone in between - we are all meant to continuously transform into the fullness of His excellent creation.
Your personal relationship with God and His word is meant to change you, not affirm you in the identity you’ve chosen for yourself. So, if you’ve been walking with God and so much of you is still the same, you have to wonder why that is.
“For the word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12, NKJV.
This is the power in God’s word. Don’t allow scriptures to simply become positive sentiments you read when you want to feel better. The “Bible” is actually the “Holy Bible.” Every word inside is sacred. Every word holds power. Every word carries the breath and Spirit of God. So, how can it be that you encounter these words and remain the same? How can you encounter the heart of the all-powerful God and nothing has really changed inside of you regardless of how many scriptures you paste on the outside? You have to wonder why that is. Can I tell you something? The treasure of your life is wrapped up in the answer to that question.
Tell me, are you actually transforming or just an older version of yourself? And if you have transformed, what have you transformed into? Are you sure you’re evolving into God’s original design for you? Are you sure you’re assuming the mold of the artwork laid out for you? Or, are you becoming something else and pasting God’s name on it?
How often do you run into situations where you want to do one thing but restrain yourself because you know God desires something different? Is there any struggle when you go to do the things that you know aren’t of him? Have the scriptures you’ve read actually changed anything about the way you think? Do you have any awareness of the Spirit of God in you directing your steps? If Jesus was here, would He see Himself in you?
If you take a look out into the world today, you’ll see many who create their own way and then sign God’s name with scriptures and the title of a Christian. The truth is, you cannot both want the fullness of what a relationship with God brings (all the goodness of it) and also want to be yourself. You cannot do both. To truly submit to God is to offer up yourself so that He can transform you into all you’re meant to be - inside and out. I don’t mean this as a criticism but as an admonition to you to not get caught up in what you see. The way of life is a narrow road and not many are on it. (See Matthew 7:13). Do not let yourself be fooled.
When you read God’s word and as you do life with Him, it’s supposed to change something about you. It’s supposed to change the way you think, the way you are, the way you make decisions, the way you see the world and the people in it, the way you interpret your challenges - everything must transform. It doesn’t come overnight but it is a continuous process that flows from proximity to Him.
“And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.” 2 Cor. 3:18, MSG.