Each one of us, as Christians, has a story about how we encountered Jesus Christ in our lives. Some of us were born in Christian homes, surrounded by good Christian examples; therefore, understanding about God’s grace and about Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was easier growing up. On the other hand, there are also the ones who, after experiencing a miraculous healing, encountered Jesus.
Overall, we all have our own stories of how we accepted Jesus Christ in our lives and about the transformation that has been happening inside out of us. The Bible says that, when we accept Jesus in our hearts, we are spiritually born again. We are made anew. We are immediately inserted into the Body of Christ and we become children of God.
Romans 8:17 says that, as His children, we become heirs of God. What amazing news! What an amazing transformation! That becomes our positional reality in Christ: receiving a new fatherhood and a new heritage with Christ. However, as Christians, we also have a journey we go through in life, here on Earth. Even though we were made anew, we still have old habits to get rid off. The Bible says that, before accepting Jesus, we were slaves to sin (Romans 6:20), meaning that we did not have the will to resist the desires of the flesh. We were once defined by fleshly desires and moved by our natural senses.
With Christ, on the other hand, we now have all the spiritual tools needed to overcome temptation and to have life that reflects the glory of God. As Christians, each one of us is, therefore, walking its own Christian walk. This walk demands daily renewal of our minds, in order to change our behavior and habits, offering our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God (Romans 12:1). This walk is a process. We already possess the positional truth that we were made anew with Christ; however, this new reality is more and more manifested in our lives through our daily fellowship with our Father.
We are all on our own journey. Some walk faster; others walk slower. Some understand things faster, while others take more time. We are all different, and each one of us has our own dilemmas to solve. Having said that, we need to be patient with each other. Ephesians 4:2-3 says: “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace”. I like this verse! In order to maintain the unity of the Body of Christ, we should bear one another in love. Not only that, this verse also tells us to be humble. Do not see yourself as more worthy than others. Remember that we were all called to walk towards the same goal, with the same vision. We were all called to manifest His glory and to walk in the unity of the Body of Christ. Do not waste time judging others or considering yourself to be better or hollier than other members of the Body. We are all children of God, walking through the process of transformation.
Surely, for the human mind and logic, this does not make sense. How come someone who has always done everything right in the eyes of society can be on the same road and the same level as someone who is a cheater and a liar, for example. Even worse! How come someone who has always obeyed the law can be on the same level as someone who has committed crimes. Impossible, right!? No, not really. God is interested in our hearts. He is looking at true repentance – that happens when we truly accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Through true repentance, we let go of who we were and make the conscious decision of living this new life with God. We truly let go of old habits, even though that means walking down the path of the transformation process. It may not be easy, but, if you truly accepted Jesus, you have received Godly strength to overcome whatever you were once addicted to or whoever you were before. And, as I emphasized before, it is a process. Although this new position as a child of God is a REALITY in Christ, some people take more time to manifest the fruits of this new reality in their lives.
As members of the Body of Christ, we are accountable for our own transformation, individually and not anybody else’s. Therefore, we should focus on our own walking with Jesus and relationship with God. Also, as part of the Body, we should be patient with one another, being guided by God’s love. About that, 1 Thessalonians 5:14 says: “And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone”. We should also encourage each other to keep firm the Christian walk, instead of being judgmental towards one another. There is no time to be wasted! We all have a race to run and a journey to complete. We should put our efforts into being faithful servants of our almighty God.
Therefore, as members of the same heavenly family, I urge you to focus on exercising the love of God that is already in you. Do not waste time listening to gossip – it is not edifying. Respect your siblings in Christ, because he/ she is also a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit as much as you. Run your race and let others run their own races. We are not here to be better than the others. We are here to make God known.