Transformed

“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”   2 Corinthians 3:18  

I love this time of year.  But I know that isn’t the case for everyone.  I’ve had many conversations lately with friends and family who are frustrated about the holidays for one reason or another.  Sometimes it’s family, sometimes it’s money.  Often the holiday season seems to be kind-of a let-down for people, failing to live up to the expectations and the hype.  As I’ve grown older I’ve come to understand, and sometimes relate, to the disappointment people feel in December.  

I’m also amazed at how differently people see “Christmas.”  For some it is chiefly an opportunity to gather with family.  For some it seems an opportunity for their relatives to pile on the guilt.  Many parents are distressed about the role gift-giving plays in their holiday, and fear for the souls of their children as want-lists grow longer and more detailed.  

Try as we might, it is nearly impossible to be completely in control of Christmastime.  There are so many cultural, social, and family influences – even in our own hearts and minds as moms.  We have expectations, we have hopes for a magical moment with our children, we have great ideas about how we can make this celebration extra special or different than all the rest.  

Satan has done a great job at really messing with the day that should be a pure and innocent celebration of God’s love for us. 

This year I’ve done a lot of reflecting about what Christmas is to me, and what it means to my kids.  At our house, we like Santa Clause and we have a Christmas morning tradition that involves lots of presents and excitement.  I love Christmas shopping (for the most part) and I really enjoy catching up with my cousins and aunts and uncles over a delicious meal.  These things are a big part of my Christmas.  But when I ask my kids “What is Christmas about, you guys?”  They don’t hesitate to explain the birth of their Savior.  Because Christmas day isn’t just about Christmas day.  It’s about everything.  All year long we are working, and growing, and learning, and teaching, and sharing.  All year long we are making mistakes and asking forgiveness, and finding new reasons to be thankful, and praying to God that he fix our problems.  And at Christmas it all comes together in one big messy human celebration.  We aren’t going to get it quite right.  But if we’re lucky we get one of those moments of honest giving; or of raw love.  We see into someone’s vulnerable soul, because we are all a little vulnerable at Christmastime.  

I want to encourage you to read 2 Corinthians 3:7-18.  It’s not really within our ability to make Christmas the perfect tribute to our Messiah; the perfect birthday party.  It’s nearly impossible to be completely in control of our Christmas.  But we can have a bold hope that all year long God is working within us and within our families so that each Christmas we are better at making Christmas about Him.  That each year we “get it” a little more than the year before.  That each year we reflect a bit more of the Lord’s glory. 

Transformed

“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18

Today I was talking to my daughter and I could see all at once that she is being transformed right before my very eyes from a little girl, to a young lady. She told me with dazzle and excitement in her eyes how she is old enough to be a part of our junior youth group at church, that she has been waiting forever to start band and playing the clarinet now just makes her so happy, how this year she gets to be an acolyte in church services, what fun it is to be on the school’s volleyball team, how awesome it is that she is old enough to add jazz to her dance classes, and how she can hardly believe that she will be starting confirmation in just one more year. So many big steps in her life are happening right now, and all the while she is growing and learning and maturing. She is being transformed.

As we all know, this transformation that my daughter is going through right now is just the beginning of many steps of transformation that she will go through during her life. There will be the teenage years, high school, college, career, marriage, children, and someday even grandchildren and retirement. Her life is and will continue to be one constant transformation as she continues her earthly journey.

In 2 Corinthians 3:18 we read that we “are being transformed into His likeness.” This transformation goes well beyond the transformations that I have been talking about and is much more valuable to us as well. The transformation that our text is talking about is the sanctification that we have as believers of Jesus, our Savior. Through faith, we become part of God’s glory that is made ours through the salvation won for us by Jesus on the cross.

It is such a blessing as a parent to watch your child grow. Even more, it is a blessing to watch your child grow in their faith. As we encourage and nurture our children to grow in their faith and watch them being transformed by God’s glory, we must also take the time needed to continue nurturing and feeding and growing our faith so that we too are continuing to be transformed. If we are not making sure that our faith is being nurtured, it makes it not only difficult, but impossible for us to help nurture the faith lives of our children.

We are all a work in progress, “being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory.” This gift of faith comes from God alone, and we will continue to be a constant transformation as we continue our faith journey.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for sharing Your glory with us, through Your Son Jesus Christ. Help us Lord to remain faithful to nurturing our faith and the faith of our children as we all are being transformed into Your likeness. Amen.