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Would you use the word “transformed” to describe your faith?

Embrace these 5 powerful truths and become fully equipped to supernaturally transform your spiritual life:

1. Know your privileged place in the story of God’s great, cosmic purposes.
2. Enjoy the opportunity to reflect His glory.
3. Partner with His people and His Spirit in a united expression of His will.
4. Dream of a Christian life on the edge.
5. Give yourself the tools and the room to grow.

5 steps to your spiritual training program:

1. Speak the truth in love.
2. Be angry and yet do not sin.
3. Steal no longer.
4. Say only what helps.
5. Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Live out your purpose of letting Jesus live through you.

______________

How To Turn 5 Powerful Truths Into A Supernaturally Transformed Life

by Chip Ingram

I’d like you to consider a couple of quick questions — 

• Are you experiencing the kind of life you thought you’d be living? 
• Is the Christian life working out the way you’d expected? 
• Have you experienced faith-inspired transformation in your life?

Would you use the word “transformed” to describe your faith?

There are times in my life when I felt frustrated and — to be honest — a little duped by Christianity. Can you relate?

The number of Christians I’ve met, pastored and counseled over the years who’ve had similar stories is almost uncountable. These sincere individuals of faith wanted to grow, but they found themselves exhausted, discouraged and desperate for change — the deep, life-altering transformation they’d expected when they put their faith in the God of the universe. 

Do not be discouraged! You’ve been looking in the right direction.

I grew up in a household that was clouded by the culture of alcoholism and where moral values and expectations existed without any connection to the living God. Once I became an adult and realized those motions were not the magical recipe to an easier life, where sin and trip hazards were around every corner, I had a reckoning. 

I had never experienced true transformation.

I learned early on how to work at my faith and gain accolades, which turned me into a people-pleasing, insecure workaholic. Add marriage to that equation and you have a husband who has little sensitivity to his wife’s needs. I hadn’t yet experienced true transformation. 

Over the course of my life, God has shown me practical truths that have equipped me to live a truly transformed life. These come from Ephesians, chapter 4, and I’m excited to share them with you here. 

If you want to experience God’s Spirit working in you and your relationships as you find yourself becoming more loving, experiencing more peace, filled with joy (even in difficult circumstances), finding kind words coming out of your mouth toward people who irritate you as Christ lives His life through you, then you’re in for the journey of a lifetime. 

Discover If You’re Living On The Edge: It can be hard to determine where you’re at on the path of transformation. I’ve created a short quiz to help you quickly assess your current experience and give you a place to begin. Be encouraged when you look back one day and see your progress!

Embrace these 5 powerful truths and become fully equipped to live a supernaturally transformed life:

1. Know your privileged place in the story of God’s great, cosmic purposes.

When we begin to think that our transformation is only about us — our personal happiness, fulfillment, and growth — we lose sight of the big picture. 

Jesus did have a lot to say about His desires for us individually — the abundant life and the joy He wants us to have. But that all fits within a vast vision for the fullness of God’s kingdom. 

Our transformation is imperative because our lives are mini-expressions of the reality of Jesus. 

In Ephesians, Paul draws our attention to the theological galaxy of God’s goodness to remind us that our individual lives joined together in the church, the body of Christ, form a larger expression of His immeasurable love for the world.

It’s a privilege to have a place in the story of God’s great, cosmic purposes.

2. Enjoy the opportunity to reflect His glory.

God longs to bring out the best in His children, and that takes time. With that goal in mind, it’s important to periodically ask yourself a very important question: Am I positioning myself in an environment where God can change me? 

I like the analogy of a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly. While the caterpillar is certainly alive, it’s at the beginning stages of its experience, one we certainly wouldn’t call “abundant” living, or being “fully” alive. 

Now consider the cocoon inside which that juvenile caterpillar finds comfort and familiarity. If you’re trying to figure out how to live as a Christian while clinging to the security of your cocoon — your old life — you are going to struggle. A new life demands a new lifestyle. 

One of the biggest problems believers face is that when we emerge from our cocoon in rebirth, we still often see ourselves as worms. We have trouble grasping our new identity because our only experience is with the old one. To help, Scripture spells it out for us, repeatedly pointing us to Jesus. And when we really begin to grasp that — and fill our vision with who He is rather than who we used to be — we begin to spread our wings and fly… and we find joy in the mysterious, awe-inspiring experience of flight. 

This process reflects God’s glory. Changing from the inside out, from a young and inexperienced worm to a beautiful, mature butterfly, is a supernatural experience. 

May God teach you His truth in a way that will allow you to experience the joy of being supernaturally changed from the inside out.

Learn more about Biblical transformation from the inside out with resources from Chip’s Daily Discipleship Course, Yes! You Really Can Change.

3. Partner with His people and His Spirit in a united expression of His will.

The specifics of God’s design involve other members of the team, the church. As I write in my book, Yes! You Really Can Change, God’s blueprint for transforming us into the likeness of His Son includes this:

Did you know the gift of leadership means to equip the saints (believers)? Not to do the ministry; not to shepherd every person, but to equip every for ministry. This is a model that works!

Years ago, a woman in our church pointed out that I hadn’t visited her in the hospital. She was in for relatively minor surgery, and she was disappointed by my absence. This was after I had spent months casting a vision for equipping and training small-group leaders with their responsibilities, but old mindsets don’t fade away easily. She was having a hard time letting go of the expectation of pastors doing everything and visiting everybody. I could honestly tell this woman that I didn’t know about her surgery, but I knew that would do little to ease her concern. So I asked her:

“Are you in a small group?”

“Oh, yes,” she said. “They’re wonderful!”

“Did anyone from your small group visit?”

“Everyone did. I had visitors every day. They even provided food for days while it was hard for me to get around.” 

I was delighted. “Can I tell you something?,” I asked. “The body of Christ just operated the way it’s supposed to. Those who know you best responded in love and kindness to meet your need. That’s what we’re trying to accomplish at our church.” 

The members of her small group had been equipped for ministry, and effectively filled their roles when the need arose. They’d acted as a team!

A biblical model of the church includes believers playing a role in the body, partnering together to express God’s kindness. 

4. Dream of a Christian life on the edge.

Encountering Jesus isn’t like meeting anyone else. The results should be transforming. 

We know we’re made for more, and we dream of living a radically transformed life, and yet we have trouble grasping our new identity because our only experience is with the old one. Thankfully, Scripture spells it out for us, repeatedly pointing us to Jesus. That’s what a new creation looks like. And when we really begin to grasp that—and fill our vision with who He is rather than who we used to be—we begin to spread our wings and fly.

When you let Jesus live His life in you, the Holy Spirit on the inside will become visible on the outside.

5. Give yourself the tools and the room to grow.

Wherever you are on that spectrum from casual Christian to frustrated Christian to growing and changing Christian, you can learn the principles and tools of greater transformation.

Just as a good exercise program begins with the core, stretching and strengthening the muscles around it, our spiritual training begins with core attributes, stretching and strengthening the new nature within us and shaping our hearts.

Sometimes we feel as if we are being pushed to the limits, but the goal is to reflect and restore our original design — to uncover the masterpiece our Sculptor already sees. We enter into training to transform into the people we are called to be.

In Ephesians 4:25–32, Paul fleshes out the threefold principles of transformation into five areas of spiritual training which represent specific aspects of our lives in which God wants to produce continual transformation. These core issues are where spiritual training becomes a catalyst for real change.

Here are 5 steps to your spiritual training program:

1. Speak the truth in love.

Notice your little exaggerations or half-truths that make you look better — blaming your lateness on traffic that wasn’t really the problem, or rounding up figures to be more impressive. 

Early in my ministry, every time I rounded up figures in a sermon, my wife would ask me why I lied. I might exaggerate the attendance at a Sunday service, and she’d call me out on it. We laugh about those conversations now, but they represented a real tension for me. I was okay with taking a loose approach to the facts and she had integrity that was uncompromising. God wanted me to learn to be honest in the small things.

Similarly, many Christians have developed seemingly harmless patterns of dishonesty that take hold and become the roots of denial, rationalization, compromise, and self-delusion. Training in this area involves the elimination of “white” lies, exaggerations, and partial truths. One of the greatest helps for me has been practicing confession — clearing up with exaggerations and partial truths by humbly confessing my err to the receiver. Once you make a few of those uncomfortable calls you’ll begin to reconsider repeat offenses. 

Confessing your half-truth is a proven method for defining the muscle of humility. 

2. Be angry and yet do not sin. 

Spiritual growth is often stunted by emotional lives not controlled by the Spirit of God. “Human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires” (James 1:20). Yet with the Scriptures, Paul clearly assumes we will be angry — some translations actually say to “be angry”—and that anger isn’t necessarily sin. Since God expresses anger, we know it’s not inherently evil. And yet, what we do with our anger can be.

Our mandate is to put on righteous anger when necessary, but we must put off whatever sin might follow it. If not, we’re giving the devil a perfect inroad. When someone cheats, steals, or otherwise treats you unfairly, go ahead and be angry. But don’t give in to wounded pride or a bad temper. Bring it under control and express it in appropriate ways.

Choose to become a person whose emotional lifestyle is under the Holy Spirit’s control.

3. Steal no longer.

By thinking differently about the value of work, we renew our minds. 

Paul tells us to go into training in the area of diligence. He begins with a command to stop stealing — which is an actual problem in the Ephesian church — and to work hard with the needs of others in mind. After all, if everyone is looking out for each other’s needs, stealing is unnecessary. And if everyone is working diligently, no one suffers lack. But apart from having enough resources to live on, this concept points to a broader and deeper lifestyle: We can’t live holy lives without doing our part.

In another passage, Paul gives us a perspective to hold onto: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Col. 3:23–24). 

Every moment of every day becomes an opportunity to turn the daily grind into personal worship. Whatever you do — filing papers, changing diapers, washing dishes, making sales calls, cutting the grass — becomes an occasion to display the love and character of God to people who really need to see Him. It’s important not only because of the fruitfulness it can bring but because of the One who receives the offering. It makes every moment sacred.

Godly people do not experience transformation through shortcuts. They trust God and know their part in cooperating with Him.

For encouragement, teaching and practical tips on working these exercises into your everyday life, subscribe to my YouTube channel, Living On The Edge.  

4. Say only what helps. 

The essence of Paul’s message in Ephesians 4:29 is “tame your tongue”: 

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” 

We know from our experiences and from the Scriptures that words carry the power of both life and death. They can literally make or break someone’s day. They can even ruin someone’s life, especially if that person is young and looks up to us.

Jesus was clear that what comes out of our mouths, whether good or evil, comes from whatever treasure is in our hearts. 

This next truth isn’t for the faint of heart, and it certainly challenges mine: If you really want to take your spiritual temperature, don’t look at your religious activities, your giving, or your morals. Listen to your words. According to Jesus, that’s the clearest indication of where your heart is.

Consider a regular practice of silence and solitude. This will help you to wisely discern your choice of words and use positive speech.

5. Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

A multitude of sins and offenses can be covered with kindness and compassion. Treat people as you would like to be treated; love others with a deep compassion that results in forgiveness. 

While the world returns offense for offense and hurt for hurt, as believers we break the cycle by treating people as Jesus would treat them. We are being conformed to His likeness, so our impulse responses need to give way to His enduring love. As a result, we release people from whatever retaliation they might deserve, just as God has done with us.

Like most of you, I have an eye-for-an-eye reflex that kicks in when I’m mistreated, so releasing retaliation isn’t easy. But I want God to forgive me when I’m the offender rather than the offended, so I need to forgive as I want to be forgiven. 

This is made possible by the deal that God has already made with us: that His Son died on the cross for our sins, and our sinful behavior is already covered, paid for in full. As Jesus said, we need to freely give what we have freely received (Matt. 10:8). 

When you practice the Matthew 5:24 Principle, which teaches us to reconcile before we worship, you will start to develop an instinct for taking responsibility for your part in conflict. No matter how small your part, God says the relationship is more important than figuring out who was to blame. Stop and seek reconciliation.

Train your reflexes to respond with kindness and compassion by developing a holy attitude in private.

All of these truths explored here can be summed up in one instruction: let Jesus live His life in you. This is your calling. God calls us to live out our faith in Christ with such consistency and integrity that it impacts every corner of our lives, and even our secret motives and thoughts.

Make your transformed life a reality by embracing the 5 powerful truths we’ve explored here:

1. Know your privileged place in the story of God’s great, cosmic purposes.
2. Enjoy the opportunity to reflect His glory.
3. Partner with His people and His Spirit in a united expression of His will.
4. Dream of Christian life on the edge. 
5. Give yourself the tools and the room to grow.

You will never be perfect this side of eternity — but you will experience significant, radical life-change. 

With practice and faith, transformation will become the norm in your life.

You are a new creation. Spread your wings and soar.

Learn practical methods for building your transformation muscles when you watch my Daily Discipleship Course on YouTube. Find other helpful resources on our website, including my book, Yes! You Really Can Change.

 

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RELATED RESOURCES

Yes! You Really Can Change book

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Written By

Chip Ingram

Founder & Teaching Pastor, Living on the Edge

Chip Ingram is the CEO and teaching pastor of Living on the Edge, an international teaching and discipleship ministry. A pastor for over thirty years, Chip has a unique ability to communicate truth and challenge people to live out their faith. He is the author of many books, including The Real God, Culture Shock and The Real Heaven. Chip and his wife, Theresa, have four grown children and twelve grandchildren and live in California.

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