I John 3:2a “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. . .”
As I read these words, I have to breathe a sigh of relief! Yes, I am God’s child. But He isn’t finished with me. All of those little things, and big things for that matter, about myself that are so far from what they should be . . . I can quit beating myself up over them. God is still working on me, perfecting me, making me more of who He wants me to be in Him.
Although we should never make excuses for our sin or for our sinful nature, we can feel good about knowing that what we will be has not yet been made known. Becoming like Christ is a process, and we can be confident in knowing that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus,” (Philippians 1:6). Our Father, who created us and knows us better than we know ourselves, will never give up on us.
Healthy children, when given proper nutrition and exercise, will most certainly grow into healthy adults. As God’s children, we must feed ourselves on His Word, and exercise obedience to Him in every area. Then, because of God’s miraculous grace, we will grow to spiritual maturity. None of us have reached our goal yet – to be exactly like Christ – but we will! Praise God, as we continue in Him, we will.
Dear Father, Thank You for Your promise that someday, You’ll make me like You. Thank You for providing everything I need to grow into the person You created me to be.
Amen
You find such great pictures to illustrate your writing, Renae! And what wonderful hope for the future me, too!
I think the process of becoming like Christ is often a very painful thing. Maybe I am a slower learner than most, but it seems like it is all loss and no gain when I have to go through hard things. And it is not clear what is happening until afterward when I notice a tiny bit more patience or a smidgen more acceptance instead of questioning. Definitely a lot of growing still to do!
Thank you, Jeanette! I’ve come a long way in the past few months, if I do say so myself! The fact that I have pictures at all is a big leap from a year ago!
Yes, I know exactly what you mean. When we’re going through the hard things, man! We feel like we have gone backward. But as you said, after we make it through, that’s when we often see the growth.
I have a looooooong way to go.