God desires to change us and to set us free. I want to be clear on what spiritual transformation is and what it is not. Spiritual transformation describes a result that comes from a work of God in your life.

Most of my Christian friends have had defining moments when their faith was tested. They hung on by their fingertips as they saw things shatter in their lives. Somehow, through it all, they learned that that God would carry them through, that they would make it, and that God loved them with an enduring love that never quits.

My dear Grandma Weigold understood how to draw upon God’s strength. Grandma loved well and trusted in the Almighty. I was going through my files today when I came upon a birthday card she’d sent me when I was in my late thirties and recovering from a breakdown (which took four years). Grandma ended the card with these words, “I pray God will pour upon you His healing and abundant mercies. You are precious in His sight.“

You can never learn that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have.        -Corrie ten Boom

The following list describes how the transformation happens.

What Spiritual Transforming Is.

• active seeking, asking, and listening to God
• spiritual change that happens from the inside to out
• a spiritual metamorphosis process
• God at work in you
• open engagement with God—with the heart, mind, and soul
• healing, cleansing, purifying, repairing, awakening,
• an intimate work of God in your life.
• involves repentance, confession, active prayer, and listening.
• intentional giving of yourself to God
• how to become a friend of God
• an open, honest, heart-relationship with God

What Spiritual Transformation Is Not.

• passive
• an intellectual pursuit that’s independent of the heart
• an adding on of certain behaviors
• a closed relationship, where you hold back or withhold areas of your life in compartments, away from the touch of God
• the result of a bible study, but it is influenced by bible study
• a fix-all solution for spiritual living

It Takes Honesty and Transparency with God.

Spiritual transformation takes lots of seeking, meditating, personal prayer, reading the Word, and time.  Going deeper with God requires familiarity with Him. Very similar to a human friendship, it takes being present in the present. The benefit with God is He is always present even when He may not seem present.

God has a way of shaping us. He knows what He wants to do with our lives and how He is going to achieve the end result. We can say no. We can resist. We tend to have an aversion to pain and suffering. But God teaches us to lean on Him and to trust in Him during the difficulty.

YOU are precious in HIS sight.

Next in series: Maturing: Spiritual Transformation, (Part 5 of 5)

Home Page: Spiritual Transformation

Photo by Renee Fisher, Unsplash

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