There is no doubt that I have a long way to go in becoming the person and mom I want to be.
Instead of walking about with my own agenda, easily tripped up when minor or major infractions occur, I want to smile at every mistake and lovingly proclaim, “It’s okay darling, I’ve made many mistakes, too.” When I see others, I desire to listen to the Holy Spirit’s leading on how I can bless them, with no thought of myself. I want to pray for everyone I see or think of. I so want to be like Christ. I want the truth that "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me" to be evident and lived out in my reality.
Yet, as I have struggled with the person I am versus the person I want to be, I realize that God has done so much work in me already. Though I am not what I will one day be, I am so thankful that I am not what I was a few years ago.
Yet, almost all the change that has happened in me is the result of challenges, difficulties, sad situations, and troubled relationships where I or someone else failed. Metamorphis came through the painful circumstances and the trials the Lord allowed, from cancer to mispoken words.
God’s faithfulness in transforming me through these trials has enabled me to say with the confidence of Paul that "He who began a good work in me will, indeed, bring it to completion." And this promise gives me faith to believe that I will, with certainty, be more consistently Christ-like with each passing year. For it is His purpose and will for me. In fact, He predestined me to be conformed to the image of His Son! Now, we can’t get any more sure than that! I am predestined, marked out, to be like Jesus! Yes, I know that one day in heaven, I will be suddenly like Him. But this verse says it will be a conforming work. Peter tells us we are constantly being changed from glory to glory here on earth.
Cherishing these truths in my heart keeps me from becoming discouraged with how weak and unlike Him I am today. For, when I lose my patience, become discouraged or self focused, I know that I am yet still moving forward in Christ. And I can be certain that it is by faith alone that I will receive His promise of being changed.
As Paul exclaims to the Galatians in chapter 3, "Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” I was saved by believing God; His Spirit saved me, I could not save myself. Now, I must remember that I will not be the one that makes myself more Christ-like; believing saved me, and believing will sanctify me. It will not be by “trying” and “working” and "keeping rules” or by perfectly following any believer’s checklist.
What a relief it is to my soul to be reminded that I don’t have to try to become like Jesus, I simply must maintain the faith to believe that I will. If I am focused on myself and how far I have to go, my faith waivers, and I am left idling until I pick back up my shield of faith. Paul tells us in Hebrews 3:14, “For we are made partakers of Christ [His nature], if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.” What a joy to know that I will be like Him because He is making it so. And then, I will finally smile at every mistake, loving others with the wellspring of living water that flows from within me.
