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I was reading the introduction to 1 Corinthians in THE MESSAGE, and the first paragraph grabbed my attention. It says…
When people become Christians, they don’t at the same moment become nice. This always comes as something of a surprise. Conversion to Christ and his ways doesn’t automatically furnish a person with impeccable manners and suitable morals.
Yep, it is true. You still get angry and lose your temper after being saved. You still naturally yell out curse words when you hit your shin on the coffee table instead of quoting a passage from Romans. You still are prone to lust if you look too much at the opposite sex. Your kids still tick you off. Your job can still be somewhat soul-crushing. You can still have addictions and strong holds that seem to run your life.
If you fit in the “I am still not perfect, but I love Jesus” category, God gave me a specific word for you today.
Salvation is a one-time event; transforming yourself to be more like Jesus is a process.
Transformation takes time. Transformation takes energy. Transformation takes effort. Transformation takes discipline.
Look at losing weight. It is a process that takes a lot of time, energy, effort, and discipline. It is not sudden or drastic. We turn on the television and see people losing tons of weight in one hour of The Biggest Loser or see how taking pills like Hydroxycut is a quick fix way to lose that unwanted weight. When in reality, nothing short of a lot of time, energy, effort, and discipline will result in true change.
Transforming yourself to be more like Jesus takes the same time, energy, effort, and discipline.
I wanted to encourage you today. If you don’t have life all figured out yet and if you still struggle, it is ok. You are not alone. Salvation is a one-time event; transforming yourself to be more like Jesus is a process.
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