Being Conformed to the Image of Christ – Part I

Strange that it might seem, for the most part Americans today, are more concerned with whether the other person in a relationship will change – not as God tells us throughout scriptures, that we are responsible only for our own changes, NOT anyone else’s.

We all have expectations in life and many are what we expect of others.  All too often we expect our husbands and wives to become kinder, more loving and compassionate, joyful, gracious and even more humorous each year, and we expect those we meet in the parking lot after services and during the week to be – well – different than those who have not come to the “minimal requirements” for getting into heaven.  And when they don’t we brood or begin judging them.  Seldom does a day pass without a husband and/or wife wanting me to help them change their spouse believing that it’s just their spouse that’s the problem.

Here’s an emotion charged phrase that I’ve heard both Dallas Willard and John Ortberg use – “fulfilling the minimal requirement for getting into heaven”.  If we’re to become the individual that God called and created us to be, such a statement will strike something deep inside our soul that will rise and speak to us.  It may be a small or large dissatisfaction with our life today, because we were not created for minimalist things. We were created for a life giving, life fulfilling, interactive, dynamic, powerful, relationship with our creator.  The bible calls it being conformed to the image of Christ and transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Sadly, what we expect in others, but often not ourselves, is that they will progressively become more of what Jesus would be like.  In our own eyes, we’re doing fine, and don’t have to work at ‘becoming” the man or woman that behaves more like Jesus with each day we live.  After all, we’ve met the requirement for getting into heaven.  That our faith might actually be the minimal  aspect of a life in Christ is not raised or entertained in our thoughts.

The good news from Genesis forward is that we were created in God’s image – imago Dei.  Then Paul tells us that we are designed (from before the foundation of the world) to be conformed to that image, the image of Christ, and that we’re to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  In both the Old Testament and New, we are told to be holy and to be imitators of Christ.

This transformation is not something that comes by osmosis – it comes by personal interaction with Christ and intentional choices and action on our part.   It comes by taking responsibility for me, not others – it comes from falling down on my face before the God who knew me before creation, and formed me in my mother’s womb, and has a plan and purpose for my life that is awesome (because it is His plan).

As we do this and are transformed – we are in a much better place to see our marriage grow healthier and stronger to become that marvelous “Display Case” for Christ and the Church as described in Eph 5:32..