Missio Dei Community

Transformation

Over the next several months as we gather for our communion times where we focus on our oneness with God, we are talking about our values and scriptures that highlight their importance.  So a few weeks ago as we gathered, we started with processing transformation together.

There’s a great passage in 1 John that says: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”

Most all of us, regardless of our faith journeys or beliefs, would say that we are a work in progress.  What we will be has not yet appeared.  Every New Year there is a huge emphasis on wanting to change and become better people as the calendar turns.  As followers of Jesus, we believe we should always be changing, and ultimately this looks like becoming more and more like Christ.

But something interesting came out as we discussed.  The reality is, many of us know that we should change, but if we’re being honest, we still want to want to change.  Or perhaps we really do want to, but we aren’t willing to do the things necessary to make it happen.  It’s really Christ who ultimately does the changing in us, but he wants us to partner with him and respond to what he’s doing in our lives.  Until the pain of not changing becomes greater than the pain of making the changes, many of us aren’t going to make sacrifices to grow.  We say it’s something we value, but we don’t actually do anything to create an environment where transformation can happen.

So what would it look like to create that climate in our lives?  What are some things we can do to put ourselves in a position to allow God to change us for the better, deep down inside.  We pulled out the whiteboard to process some of the practices we could try implementing if we wanted to.  Here’s a start that we came up with:

  • Scripture/memorization
  • Creative worship experience
  • Reading/learning
  • Listening – podcasts, etc.
  • Prayer
  • Accountability
  • Journaling or blogging
  • New experiences/intentionally getting out of our comfort zones
  • Exercise/nutrition

By no means is the list exhaustive, thus “a start.”
What else could go on the list?
How else can we position ourselves for transformation?

This coming Sunday, we will continue in a similar vein at our monthly “Spiritual Conversation” where we’ll be discussing holistic health.
We’re looking forward to talking about how each part of our lives affects the others and how we can be whole, healthy individuals.


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