13 Jun Top 3 Transforming Truths
THREE TRANSFORMING TRUTHS TO ACCELERATE SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION
One of the challenges I have had in the Christian life is not being able to see the forest for the trees. There are 613 commandments in the Old Testament, and 1050 commands in the New! How in the world can I remember them all, let alone obey them all?
But then I began to see that rather than keeping a handy list of all 1663, the key is to look for overarching categories and principles. For example, Romans 13:10 says: Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Therefore, to focus my heart on that passage, or a passage such as “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you” (Luke 6:31) is likely to bring me into compliance with a whole host of “commands.”
Following the same principle, there are three transforming truths which, if we focus on, will bring us into compliance with the heart of God and accelerate spiritual transformation.
Transforming Truth #1: Trust
The starting point, as well as a constant and ongoing principle in the Christian life, is to live by faith.
In Scripture, the words faith, belief and trust are parallel concepts, all coming from the same Greek word, pistis. And Scripture makes it clear that faith is the basis of our relationship with God.
Hebrews 11:6 says, “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
So, faith is at the foundation of the Christian life and spiritual transformation. Without it, we cannot please God. We demonstrate our faith in God by whether or not we trust Him.
In some cases, to live by faith and trust God means that we must obey Him. In other cases, to trust God means that we rest in Him.
For example, when Scripture says “If you love me, you will keep my commandments (John 14:15), it is clear that we must obey God if we are to live by faith in Him.
On the other hand, when Scripture says “My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19), that passage does not call on us to obey anything, but if we live by faith, we must believe that the passage is true, and believing, rest in the truth.
So, in some cases trusting God means to obey. In other cases, trusting God means to rest.
Transforming Truth #2: Transfer
To grow in our ability to trust God, we need to begin to see things from God’s point of view. We need to transfer our perspective from a temporal perspective to an eternal perspective. If we do not do this, life will be a continual succession of confusion, frustration, and discouragement. We will never be able to understand why God does, or does not do, certain things, or why He answers, or does not answer, certain prayers.
Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on earth.”
Doing so often takes us 180 degrees in the opposite direction of natural inclination. Therefore, we will continually be coming to wrong conclusions and making wrong choices if we do not see and accept things from God’s point of view.
So we transfer our perspective to eternity. And in doing so, we also transfer our affections to heaven. Matthew 6:19-21 says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth… but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
So, with our mind, we transfer our perspective to eternity and with our heart, we transfer our affections to heaven.
Transforming Truth #3: Love
A third transforming truth is that we are to live a life of love for God and others.
Scripture teaches that loving God is our highest responsibility: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment.” Matthew 22:37-38.
Then, not surprisingly, the Bible teaches that loving our neighbor as ourselves is the second greatest commandment. (Matthew 22:39).
As Benjamin Disraeli said, “We are created for love. It is the principle of existence and its only end.”
Wrapping it Up
Everything God asks of us, He does so to give something good to us. As we live by faith in Him, as we live by an eternal perspective, and as we love God and others, God transforms our lives with peace, love and joy (Galatians 5:22-23).
So, wrapping it up, the top three transforming truths in the Christian life are:
- Trust: We must trust God enough to obey and/or rest in what He says.
- Transfer: We must transfer our perspective to eternity and our affections to heaven.
- Love: We must live a life of love toward God and others.
By focusing on these three truths, we can accelerate our spiritual transformation.
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