Over the years my physical body has made numerous changes. As a young person up until I was thirty, I had a full head of hair. Then I began losing it and by the time I was fifty, I was bald. There have been many other changes as I have transformed from a child to an older, mature adult.
The same thing is true about my spiritual life. I started out as a baby Christian, knowing that my sins were forgiven and that God was my heavenly Father. As I grew spiritually and began to meditate in Scripture, I memorized passages that gave me more insight into who I was in Christ. I also became stronger in my faith and learned to overcome bad habits. Then there came a time when I began to see life more and more from God’s perspective and that gave me an understanding I never had before.
All of those spiritual changes have been challenging as I have had to deal with the death of a child, financial problems, business failures, overcoming personal addictions as well as helping my children overcome some of their issues. Health issues like a heart attack and cancer (twice) all kept bringing me to a place of having to trust God more and more.
All of the adversity I have had to work through has been transforming me more and more into the image and character of Christ. I still have a long way to go, but step by step the Lord is guiding me through prayer, Scripture, the counsel of other believers, and my circumstances to get rid of those characteristics that don’t glorify God.