Becoming Who God Wants Us to Be

When you think about your Christian walk and your attitudes, behaviors, and decisions, do you ever imagine yourself in these ways?

• You are a mature Christian whose world view lines up with the scripture and your attitudes show it.
• You have pure motives, right relationships, and thoughts that are Christ-like.
• You abound in compassion for others, never feeling impatient, frustrated, or angry.
• You trust God fully, and believe totally in His unlimited power, abundant grace and mercy, and immeasurable love for you.
• God's glory is revealed in your life.
• You are His instrument in spreading the gospel to those who need to know Him.
• Your life glorifies God every minute of every day.
• You live your life with unwavering discipline.

Who wouldn't want those things? I think we all want to glorify God, to walk with Him with full trust, to be used of Him, and to be everything the Bible tells us He wants us to be. Right?

So if I were to say come to my office tomorrow and sign up for this, you would (most at least) be there at the crack of dawn to be the first in line.

But what if, as I hand you the sign up sheet for you to "sign on the dotted line" as it were, I were to say, "Oh, I may have forgotten to mention that in order for you to get these qualities, it will involve some pain."

You see, nothing comes easily. (It seems like this has been our theme recently, hasn't it?) The Bible is pretty clear that the above character traits are produced in us through, yes, suffering. Check out these scriptures:

Roman 5:3-5
James 1:2-4
II Corinthians 1:3-5
Romans 8:18
Acts 11:19
John 9:1-3
Hebrews 12:9-11

So why would we sign up for suffering? Well, it kind of goes back to a theme that has run through our teachings in the past year, and that is of knowing Christ.

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:10-11

Paul embraced suffering and counted it pretty much as nothing compared to knowing Christ. In economic terms, it was "cost effective," I guess you could say. What we get is far beyond what we pay.

Additionally, remember that suffering comes to those who know Christ and those who don't. With that being true, it seems more desirable to go through suffering with Christ as opposed to without Christ.

Remember that suffering offers an opportunity for good fruit. While we may not be able to control, predict, or schedule suffering in our lives, we have control over the outcome, in terms of what it produces in us. Go through it with the wrong attitude and you will come out the other side of the suffering with only negative changes in yourself. You'll be more bitter, angrier, and more fearful.

Go through it with the correct attitude and you will find yourself changed in positive ways as you come out the other side. You'll exhibit more of the fruit of the Spirit. Good will have come from "bad."

What are your thoughts? Post a comment!