“BEING TRANSFORMED”

Do you ever feel like no matter how much you study God’s word or pray to Him, you never feel any closer to Him? If you have, you are not alone. It happens to people who might be considered “spiritual giants,” leaders, or teachers. It’s an issue that arises when we lose focus of our relationship with God.

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Many of the relationships we have in our life can be considered transactional, that is we receive a benefit from the relationship. People have relationships with doctors for health benefits. People have relationships with bankers and money managers for financial benefits. Generally speaking, if you have no need for the services that people offer, you will not have a relationship with them.

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Our friends and family offer us a sense of belonging and companionship. It gives us comfort to know we have people who love and accept us. And of course, that goes both ways. Some people become caregivers, and while this entails selfless service, it also gives that person a sense of being needed. None of these transactional relationships are wrong, it is just the nature of how they work.

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Our relationship with God is transactional, yet it needs to go much deeper. Our relationship with God allows us to be set free from sin and to receive eternal life with Him in heaven. Those are benefits that are offered from no other relationship. Our relationship with God must also be transformational. We must allow God to mold and shape every aspect of our life so that we are living the life that God desires we live. If we merely view our relationship in a transactional way, that is, praying, studying, and trying to avoid evil in order to keep our conscience clear and hope that bad things don’t happen.

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In order to have a transformational relationship with God, it must be intimate. We need to be completely open and honest with Him in prayer, we need to allow His word to penetrate our heart so that we continue to grow closer to him in each and every way. Our relationship with God must transform us from the inside out. We don’t merely want to have an appearance of righteousness; we want God’s righteousness to be the very root of our being, so our words and actions are genuine and reflect His love in all things. We need to get to the point of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s relationship with God as they faced the fiery furnace, 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” (Daniel 3:17, 18).

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All good relationships are give and take, or transactional, yet only our relationship with God is truly transformational, and that is the only relationship that we have forever!

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Read Psalm 51:10-17

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