We live in a changing world… always growing. Always evolving. The world we live in today is NOT the same world I grew up in. Medicine has made great advances. Better laws are in place. Structures are sturdier. Safety features in vehicles have improved. And the tech world has evolved exponentially. A lot of these changes are awesome. Others not so much. My mom and I were having this conversation yesterday and we both agreed that back in the day, it was a lot simpler… you could call an office and be able to talk to someone immediately. If you needed a medical procedure, you didn’t have to wait months to get it done, etc. etc.
Did you know that the Christian should always seek to evolve as well? What do I mean by that? As Christians, we should always be growing, learning, transforming… all with one purpose in mind. What is that purpose? To become more like Christ. This should be our ultimate goal. The apostle Paul was continually speaking about this as we see in our key verse. We won’t ever reach complete transformation on this earth but we should always be trying. I heard someone say that we should seek to become better versions of ourselves. I disagree. We should seek to become better versions of Christ. Why? So the world can see Jesus in us. So we can have greater discernment. So we can be wise in our actions.
So, the question becomes… How can I do this? How can I be an evolving door always growing in my likeness of Jesus. Here are four ways…
Learn from your mistakes! We will make mistakes. That’s inevitable. But we can learn from them and choose to handle things differently the next time. Yesterday, I went in for a procedure after waiting weeks to get in. I sat in the office for more than an hour. Finally, I went and asked what’s going on. They informed me that they couldn’t get ahold of someone who needed to be there so they would need to reschedule. I wasn’t happy. I came home and left a not-so-nice message on their answering machine. I let my anger show for sure. My mom said, “Sheryl, that’s okay. That was righteous anger.” I laughed and said, “Mom, that’s not righteous anger.” I hope that I learned from that experience and I will handle it better the next time.
Learn from others! I have people in my life who are great role-models. They don’t always do everything right, but they admit when they’re wrong, they seek to change their behavior, and they are always growing in maturity. These are the people I want to emulate. In fact, Paul said, “You should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). We can learn so much by imitating people who imitate Christ.
Be involved in Bible study! There’s not a better way to transform into Christlikeness than to study, learn, and apply God’s Word. Don’t be those Christians who are content warming the church pew and believe that Sunday church is enough. Bible study is the BEST thing we can do and is the BEST way to transform our lives.
Use your gifts to build others up! Our key verse comes on the heels of Paul’s message about using your gifts to equip believers. As you use your gifts within the body of Christ, you will grow, mature, and transform. Using our gifts within the body of Christ is amazing.
Let’s continually strive for one specific goal specific goal: to become more like Christ.