The Journey of Transformation

      As we grow in knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures in worship and small groups remember though that religious education is not an end in itself. The goal of our study, prayers and fellowship is behavior transformed to be like our Lord.  In our humanity we will never fully arrive! But by seeking transformation we can make progress.
     In our spiritual journey we move from one polarity to the opposite. This direction from the negative to the positive is life long.  We are not transformed just by cleansing our soul of the negatives. We must replace them with positive choices and energy.
     Here are a few  ways we all can observe our progress in transformation. If we are honest we will admit we need more movement toward the positive virtues. Let me suggest the following tensions and directions.
      Each of these polarities  we can let go of the negative and move towards positive actions: from greed to generosity, from being controlled by fear to courage, from sexual lust to respectful honor, from bitter anger to merciful forgiveness, from a victim outlook to creative responsibility for happiness, from pretending/hiding to an honesty about who we are, from worry and anxiousness to more confident trust in God, from procrastination to an active fulfillment of present duties, from indifference to a caring effort to help the suffering, from self-pity to a joyful engagement with the present moment, from partiality and prejudice to kindness towards all people, from despair over past sins to peaceful awareness of forgiveness, from arrogant pride to humble awareness of need, from condemnation of others to compassion, from dictating to others to learn acceptance and service.
     This is a tall order for our fallible and frail humanity. The strength for such a journey comes not from within ourselves. It comes from keeping our focus on the teachings and mercy of Christ. As we focus our attention on Him then His Spirit changes us from within.
      2 Corinthians 3:18 gives us hope of being changed into better people as we keep the Lord first in our life,  "And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this come form the Lord , the Spirit". As we experience the transformation of the Spirit by investing in positive choices we will grow reflect the light of Christ in our world. We need not stay stuck in the negative past.