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| Butterfly in my backyard |
I don't know if I have ever seen "spiritual transformation" expressed better than this. It says it all, IMHO.
"Spiritual transformation is the process by which Christ is formed in us for the glory of God, for the abundance of our own lives and for the sake of others.
The biblical metaphors that are used in reference to the transformation process (the formation of the embryo in its mother’s womb referred to in Galatians 4:19 and the metamorphosis [transformation] of the caterpillar into a butterfly alluded to in Romans 12:2) indicate that it is an organic process that goes far beyond mere behavioral tweaks to work deep, fundamental changes at the very core of our being.
In the process of transformation the Spirit of God moves us from behaviors motivated by fear and self-protection to trust and abandonment to God;
from selfishness and self-absorption to freely offering the gifts of the authentic self;
from the ego’s desperate attempts to control the outcomes of our lives
to an ability to give ourselves over to the will of God
which is often the foolishness of this world.
This kind of change is not something we can produce or manufacture for ourselves
but it is what we most need.
It is what those around us most need."
Ruth Haley Barton
Pp. 15-16
