I said to a friend in a recent conversation “why do we have to go through becoming, why can’t we just become?” I made this comment in reference to a conversation about us becoming adults because the “adulting” stage is so complicated and painful sometimes, I wish I could skip it altogether and just become an adult already. But life doesn’t work that way, never has and most certainly never will.
This made me think about becoming in every facet of life and what it looks like in Christianity. When you give your life to Christ, the process that takes place is regeneration because you become a new man who is now saved and absolutely reconciled back to the Father. However, let’s say you only speak in English and you meet and fall in love with someone who only speaks Spanish, such a match is exciting at first, you can communicate using hand signals and other means but that communication tactic can only last so long. Soon you will need to communicate on deeper levels and if you don’t learn to speak each other’s language, that relationship will likely end.
I think we can draw similarities between this analogy and being a Christian. It’s like this, we’re immediately reconciled to God upon salvation and have entered a loving relationship with Him but there are so many things to discover about this God of the universe. He is infinite in His capabilities and He is infinitely good. But in order for that relationship with God to grow and develop until it is this strong and mature thing, we must go through a process of becoming. Christianity is a journey of becoming like Christ and it is in becoming that we can truly enjoy the fullness of a relationship with God.
So, how does this process of becoming take place? Through fun and cool things like studying the word, praying, spending time with Him in worship, serving others, praising and not so fun things like the trials and testing of our faith and temptations. The thing is, no, we can’t skip any aspect of becoming because if we do, there’ll be gaps that will show up later as uncomfortable and unresolved issues. We must go through every step that it takes to become because it will be so worth it when we do.
This is a lesson I’ve learnt in my walk with God and I still continue to learn it and I’ve found that the purpose of Christianity is not happiness, it is to become like Christ and it is in being like Christ that we can find true joy. Many chapters of the bible illustrate this but I think we can take a cue from last week’s study of James and read the following verses;
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
James 1:2-4 KJV
Becoming is absolutely necessary and while it may not always be fun, if we look at it through the eyes of God, we’ll find such a deep appreciation for it.
