Conformed to the Image of Christ

After I came back from my amazing trip to Sydney, I started noticing some changes in myself. I found that my interests changed, my circle of friends changed, the way I dressed and where I went for fun changed. Even the jokes I laughed at changed.

No one was dictating how I should act, and it wasn’t that I had been an awful person beforehand. It was that the more I learned about Jesus, the more I wanted to be like Him. When it finally dawned on me that Jesus lives inside me and goes everywhere I go, it made me rethink how I was living.

I wasn’t trying to win God’s Love. I was overwhelmed that God had forgiven my wayward ways. It was God’s Amazing Love for me and my love for Him that compelled me to keep growing in my Christian Walk.

Once we’ve had an encounter with the Lord, we’re never quite the same.

As I studied the Bible, read books, prayed, started going to church, surrounded myself with Christian friends, and began serving in various ways at church, I gained a new perspective. I really was a New Creation, as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

I was now trying to live according to God’s Standards.

The fourth truth in the Six C's of Transformation is that God is conforming us to the Image of Jesus. Almighty God has created us, called us, and chosen us to worship Him, delight in Him, and honor Him.

We are His Exquisite Masterpieces. We are His Precious Handiwork and His Lovely Handmaidens. We’re not meant to be like the world and to settle for its standards. We’re called to live by God’s Standards, which we find in the Bible.

God has set us apart for His Divine Purposes. God has even bigger plans for us than helping us fulfill our Kingdom Assignments. God desires us to resemble Jesus. Our Christlike Character will develop over time as we surrender to God’s Will and work in our lives.

God is preparing us for our Heavenly Home. And He has divine plans for us while we’re still here on Earth.

Sanctification, or being conformed to the Image of Christ, happens every day of our lives. Thinking and acting and reacting like Jesus doesn’t happen in an instant.

Let’s trust God as He lovingly molds and shapes us.

Prayer

Dear God, thank You for lovingly conforming me to the Image of Your Beloved Son, Jesus.

Reflection Questions

• Will you ask God to search your heart and reveal any sins in your life?
• Will you ask God to forgive your sins, and will you receive His forgiveness?