(Be) Transformed预览

Transformation by the Holy Spirit begins when we desire to be a living sacrifice, serve God with spiritual gifts, and be love in action. This is not a “do better, be better” calling. We are all a work in progress, and comparison and competition only hold us back. Wherever the Holy Spirit is calling us higher, we should first seek understanding about why we might struggle to move toward it.

Bible scholars refer to the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Rome as providing a well-instructed faith. It’s a direct and concise instruction for boldness in knowing and being who God created us to be.

Paul writes from deep scriptural knowledge, having been a highly esteemed Pharisee before his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, which would change him from being one the greatest oppressors of the emerging church to one of its biggest proponents.

Jesus had a lot to say about and to the Pharisees during his ministry because they typically favored the law over love. They had become very attached to religion and rules, and they didn’t like that Jesus was disrupting that with His counter-cultural message of love.

Paul knew the ancient scriptures, but when he encountered Jesus, everything changed. We too can know the scriptures, but it is quite different to open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit and allow Him and the scriptures to transform us.

God breathed on Paul’s writing in Romans knowing we would need a list like this to remind us to be people who actively show our faith and willingly receive the Holy Spirit’s loving correction where we need it. Our first step to breakthrough in the areas where we are stuck is to acknowledge that we need transformation by the Holy Spirit. Like a sculptor chisels carefully at his masterpiece, the Holy Spirit longs to shape and transforms us, as we permit Him to.

Opening up ourselves to transformation by the Holy Spirit can be intimidating, because the required vulnerability can feel like weakness. It’s important to remember that God’s mercy is the source of confidence-building empowerment.