One day, about six months after I became a Christian, I realized something surprising—I hadn’t sworn in a long time. I couldn’t remember deciding to stop. I couldn’t remember trying to stop. Somewhere along the way, God had quietly changed my heart.
A few months after I quit smoking pot, I read a book “Tired of Trying to Measure Up” by Jeff VanVonderen. Now I’m reading it again. The first time, I felt the author knew me and was writing the book about me. Almost every word was exactly me! It helped me to realize what, how and why I have the personality traits and behaviors that I have.
The book is about Christians who live under a deeply ingrained code of written and unwritten expectations and rules that shame and drain them. It is for the perfectionist, people with low self-worth, ones who were abused or shamed, and people who were addicted to any form of substance that allowed them to escape. Mostly it is about shame and how it affects our opinion about relationships, behaviors, and ourselves. It speaks about who we are in God’s eyes, what He created us to be, the freedom God’s grace brings, how to recognize our coping skills, and if they serve us in our relationships.
The first time reading the book five years ago, a friend borrowed it to me. It was so true for me bought my own copy. I started reading it for the second time and I can see how far I’ve come. The opinions, behaviors and characteristics the book speaks of were 98% me the first time. Now, I feel they’re still in me but healed to the point that they rarely show up anymore. My thoughts and action are different, and it’s a miracle!
“Our faces, then, are not covered. We all show the Lord’s glory, and we are being changed to be like him. This change in us brings ever greater glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit..” II Corinthians 3:18
“And let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:6
“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” Philippians 1:6
If you think you are not moving spiritually, look back in your journal if you have one, read a book you felt described you, ask a trusted friend, or pray and ask God to reveal it to you. I know you will be encouraged when you realize how different you are. God often changes us so gradually that we don’t notice until we stop and look back. That’s when we realize He has been faithfully transforming us into the likeness of Christ all along.
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