Our Part in Spiritual Transformation

"Our aim is not first to act differently but to become different in our inner being. We're not just learning how to be nicer versions of our old selves. We're dealing radically with the fundamental wrongness of human life left to itself and introducing the kingdom of righteousness that is Christ into the depths of our heart. It is the inner life that counts. That is where profound transformation must occur.

"Spiritual formation for the Christian refers to the Holy Spirit-driven-process of forming the inner world of the human self in such a way that it becomes like the inner being of Christ himself. To the degree spiritual formation in Christ is successful, the outer life of the individual becomes a natural expression of this character and the teachings of Jesus." ( Dallas Willard, Renovation of Character).

It is the love of God that will change us. And "God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit" (Rom 5:5). It is the love of God flowing through us--not our human attempts at behavioral change--that will transform. God's love is the love described in I Cor. 13. His love will never give up. That's why Paul prays in Ephesians 3 that they will know God's love that surpasses knowledge and be filled up to the full measure of all the fullness of God. As the Spirit expands our experiential knowing of the God who is Love, we will be freed to know ourselves, in all of our vulnerability and shame, and be changed.  It is the grace of God that gets next to us, and transforms.

Grace does not rule out method or effort on our part. Grace says that what we receive is not earned or even deserved. Grace is a gift that is given to us. But grace does not mean that we cannot "make every effort" to be open to His love. The part we can play seems to be around the idea of being intentional or deliberate, to work with the Spirit to receive His grace and grow in our experience of His love. Our tendency is to hide, and get distracted, and fail to be attentive--even resistant. The invitation is to receive His gift.

>

We can't give up!

C.S. Lewis' chapter in Mere Christianity on “Sexual Morality” – seems to have a lot to say about whatever struggles we are engaged in.

“Many people are deterred from seriously attempting Christian chastity because they think (before trying) that it is impossible. But when a thing has to be attempted, one must never think about possibility or impossibility. Faced with an optional question in an examination paper, one considers whether one can do it or not: faced with a compulsory question, one must do the best one can. You may get some marks for a very imperfect answer: you will certainly get none for leaving the question alone. Not only in examinations, but in war, in mountain climbing, in learning to skate, or swim, or ride a bicycle, even in fastening a stiff collar with cold fingers, people quite often do what seemed impossible before they did it. It is wonderful what you can do when you have to.

“We may, indeed, be sure that perfect chastity—like perfect charity- will not be attained by any merely human efforts. You must ask for God’s help. Even when you have done so, it may seem to you for a long time that no help, or less help than you need, is being given. Never mind. After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again. Very often what God first helps us towards is not the virtue itself but just this power of always trying again. For however important chastity, or courage, or truthfulness, or any other virtue may be, this process trains us in habits of the soul which are more important still. It cures our illusions about ourselves and teaches us to depend on God. We learn, on the one hand, that we cannot trust ourselves even in our best moments, and, on the other, that we need not despair even in our worst, for our failures are forgiven. The only fatal thing is to sit down content with anything less than perfection….

>

Spiritual Transformation

Some of us seem to have given up hope that we can do anything about our inner character. We truly believe that transformation must be a supernatural act of God on our heart if we will ever be changed. We've gotten on with our lives and hope that someday, the Holy Spirit will bring to completion the work He has begun.

Others of us may roll up our sleeves and set out on a journey to become like Christ. Ben Franklin writes in his autobiography about how he "conceiv'd the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection. I wish'd to live without committing any fault at any time...I did not see why I might not always do right and avoid the wrong. But I soon found I had undertaken a task of more difficulty than I had imagined...I concluded, at length, that the mere speculative conviction that it was in our interest to be completely virtuous, was not sufficient to prevent our slipping; and that the contrary habits must be broken, and good ones acquired and estabished, before we can have any dependence on a steady, uniform rectitude of conduct."  So Ben Franklin conceived of a method. But after years of trying, he writes:

"This article, therefore, cost me so much painful attention, and my faults in it vexed me so much, and I made so little progress in amendment, and had such frequent relapses, that I was almost ready to give up the attempts, and content myself with a faulty character in that respect, like the man who, in buying an ax of a smith, my neighbour, desired to have the whole of its surface as bright as the edge. The smith consented to grind it bright for him if he would turn the wheel; he turn'd, while the smith press'd the broad face of the ax hard and heavily on the stone, which made the turning of it very fatiguing. The man came every now and then from the wheel to see how the work went on, and at length would take his ax as it was, without farther grinding. "No," said the smith, "turn on, turn on; we shall have it bright by-and by; as yet, it is only speckled."  "Yes," said the man, "but I think I like a speckled ax best." And I believe this may have been the case with many...they concluded "a speckled ax was best." 

Franklin reflects: "I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavour, a better and a happier man than I otherwise should have been if I had not attempted it."

Franklin's approach seems exhausting -- and completely focused on external behavior. When externals are the main focus, spiritual formation doesn't really happen. As Paul writes to the Colossians, ""Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!  These regulations have an appearance of wisdom, butthey lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence." (Col. 2:20-23) It's the inner life that counts -- that's where spiritual transformation must occur.  But how?

What is your understanding of spiritual transformation? How do we walk in the path of righteousness? What is our role in putting to death the old man, and putting on the new?

>

Following along the Path of Righteousness

True righteousness requires that we open ourselves to Him, that we allow ourselves to be honest and vulnerable with Lord in prayer – coming to Him and presenting our true self --not the self we show others, not even the private self that we ourselves see, but our inmost self, the hidden person of our heart – the self that God sees in order that we might be forgiven and changed. 

Don’t mistake what I am saying. We do not live righteously, and no amount of trying harder will get us there. Yet righteousness is God’s dream for us. It is His call. It seems we have two natural responses. Many of us are overwhelmed by our own sense of unworthiness and failure. We have lost hope that things in our lives will ever be different than they are today. We know becoming righteous is not something that we will ever accomplish, so we have stopped trying. Somehow we have come to believe that trying to become all that God dreams for us to be, is legalistic, goes against grace. We think that because transformation is by grace and not by works, we shouldn’t make any effort to try to become righteous. We reason, if transformation is all a gift of His grace, then we simply need to entrust His work to Him, and in the process, we relieve ourselves of all responsibility to be growing in righteousness.

Psalm 23 says that the Lord guides us in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake –He guides us, but it seems, we must follow, step by step, to walk along the path He shows us.

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." Luke 9:23

>

Hiding

Foolishly we hide ourselves in fear that God will be displeased, though in fact the hiding may be what displeases God the most. It feels to us like self-protection; but to God, it looks like lack of trust. In either case, the wall of fear will keep us apart. When I acknowledge my need and reflect on God's desire to embrace me, I can come out of hiding. Our God is the prodigal's father. At first sight of us, He runs to meet us. Daring to return home, I find not a tyrant, but a compassionate Father.

Knowing that we are loved, draws us home. His dream is that we have the willingness to trust Him enough to come. His dream is that we have compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, the ability to put up with annoying people, to forgive, to love -- His character in our hearts. When we open ourselves in vulnerability and receive His mercy and grace, He transforms our character...gives us new clothes to wear. (Col 3)  He accomplishes in our lives what we are completely unable to do on our own. He transforms us.

>

Fear yields to His embrace

I thought I had to be perfect to be accepted. My deep-seated fear of rejection has begun to yield to God's embrace. Somehow, in a way I can only trust and not understand, presenting to God the truth of my life gives Him pleasure...Let me say this again: Our fear of rejection yields to God's embrace. His love for me is not diminished by my sin, my willfulness, my rebellion or my failure. Somehow, in a way I can only trust and not understand, presenting to God the truth of my life gives God pleasure...Opening my self is really about trust.

Trust in His love for you...look at Him hanging on the Cross and remember the depth of His love, then you will be able trust Him, and open your inner self to Him, telling Him what you find there. We do not need to fear. We do not need to hide. We do not need to present to Him anything other than the truth.

Trust Him. Trust that when you open yourself to Him, He will delight in you. Let His love dispel your fear of rejection and lead you into His arms of love.

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse,

nor will he harbor his anger forever;

he does not treat us as our sins deserve

or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his love for those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,

so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

for he knows how we are formed,

he remembers that we are dust.

Psam 103:8-14

>

Arms of love

Jesus, our Shepherd, guides us in paths of righteousness. Becoming righteous is a process of opening our self to Him, our true self. The path of righteousness is a path that leads us ultimately to our home in Christ, but it is also a path that takes us through the anguish of the Garden of Gethsemane, to the foot of the Cross where we see His extravagant love for us demonstrated, through the darkness of valley of the shadow of death, as we journey home. Where are you in your journey today?

All the way my Shepherd leads me. He holds me in His arms of love. He holds me near. And when we get weary, He carries us in His arms of love.

Praise the Lord; praise God our savior!
For each day he carries us in his arms.

Psam 68:19

 

He tends his flock like a shepherd:

He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart;

he gently leads those that have young.

Isaiah 40:11

>