When we are born again, the spiritual transformation that takes place in us immediately is God’s part who renews our spirit, so that we can commune directly with Him. What a great gift of Jesus who sent us the Spirit and did not leave us orphans. Now, we often hear that we still need to be transformed, that our minds need a renewal and many believers find that hard or do not just understand why that is necessary when Jesus has done all the work for us on the Cross. My brother, my sister, yes, Jesus did the greatest part on the Cross: saving us and reconciling us with the Father.
Have you ever seen a caterpillar? This little ugly rampant that nobody wants to touch? Have you ever seen a butterfly? Some people would catch butterflies or admire them. And the fact is that, when we see butterflies, we barely remember that they were an ugly caterpillar before. But how does a caterpillar turn into a butterfly? To become a butterfly, a caterpillar first digests itself and becomes a kind of soup! Yes, it must totally die or disappear. And the caterpillar radically transforms its body, eventually emerging as a butterfly or moth. This is how we should understand the transformation that God wants to operate in us through His Holy Spirit, if and when we allow Him to: before becoming born again, we were earthly creatures, crushed by Satan, the king od this world because, just like anyone can walk on a rampant caterpillar, the world had dominion over us. But once, Jesus entered the scene as we accepted Him as our Lord and Saviour, the story became different: because He has removed us from the world spiritually, He also wants us to adopt the new change that can allow us to fly, to be lighter, to look more beautiful with colours of joy and peace as a delicate butterfly.
My friend, does God want a change of behaviour? Although change of behaviour is not bad in itself. God wants something far better for us: He wants us to grow in the knowledge of Him! Growth is the only way to get back to the purpose for which we were originally created: to get to know God! Basically, the Bible tells us that once in Christ, the new person we are is the new man that God is constantly renewing, so that this man may become more and more like Him: “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator”. This transformation is important so that we may know God truly. In other words, you will never be truly fulfilled in your Christian life without the renewal of your mind, without abandoning the things of the world that still give you the appearance of a caterpillar. It’s important for us to understand that God has already provided everything in His Word for the change to take place in us: Jesus Christ who gave all, who taught us how to behave as children of God, how to love God, how to serve God, etc… Stay blessed in Jesus’ name.