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True Gospel transformation always, 100% of the time, comes from beholding the beauty of Jesus Christ as revealed by the Word and the Holy Spirit. There are many other kinds of transient, temporal, humanistically driven transformation that can resemble a gospel transformation, but each variant ultimately shows itself a very weak substitute for the real thing – putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 13:14; Galatians 3:27.

There is such unbelievably great transformational power in the simple act of beholding Jesus, and yet I often take so little time to simply meditate on Him. 2 Corinthians 3:18 describes this transformational power plainly: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” There is a divine cause and effect, a heavenly means to a perfect end. Beholding the self-emptying, sacrificial love of Christ transforms us, by the Spirit, into loving people, reflecting His glory.

A connection that has become more and more clear to me is the link between humility and peace, or alternatively, between pride and anxiety. It’s not a necessarily intuitive link. Often, we think of anxiety as a weakness and pride as accompanied by self-confidence, and so we view them as opposites. However, it is the pride of self-sufficiency that leads to anxiety.

A Bible-reading approach that has been fruitful for my spiritual growth is one that I call the “that doesn’t sound right” strategy. I’ll take a chunk of Scripture, sometimes a chapter, sometimes several chapters, and as I read along, I simply wait for my mind/heart to spout out, “that doesn’t sound right.” Then, I stop reading and look back over the words that caused my reaction. Sometimes, I just didn’t understand the words and so I study them more.

Back in March, Pastor Tim preached a sermon as part of the Love One Another series on Jesus’ act of washing the disciples’ feet out of John 13. It was a fantastic sermon with tons of powerful imagery.