Does your faithfulness build a better you? It does in part. Think about the songs you know that speak about your Father’s faithfulness (Great is Thy Faithfulness, He is Faithful, etc.). Now, what about the fact that God cannot fail at anything He undertakes? Reminds me of Jesus Never Fails and other worship songs with that thought. How do those thoughts go together with Philippians 1:6?
And I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
The love God poured out on you and me makes a relationship with Him possible. That is grace! Through faith, we believe and receive God’s gift of salvation. However, from our perspective the gift is not complete. We still struggle with a sin nature. And we can easily find ourselves being unfaithful!
The Word tells us we have the Holy Spirit within us as a promise of God’s ultimate completion of His gift to us. Further, we know the task of the Holy Spirit is to conform us into the very image of Christ. Think about that for just a minute. It tells us God is not going to wait to begin His transformational gift until we have left the planet and ‘signed in’ at heaven’s gate. The process has already begun! And the One Who cannot fail guarantees its completion.
These thoughts should be a great encouragement. Our Father has revealed things about Himself that are easy to grasp:
- He is Faithful
- He is Reliable
- He keeps His Word
- He cannot fail
Application For A Better You
Applying those simple truths to His work in us gives us peace for today and hope for the future. They also point to a potential predicament!
There is great hope that we will one day be delivered, as Paul says, from this body of death where we struggle with sin. The Lord loves us enough to guarantee the fulfillment of His plan to build a better you. However, if He has already begun the work of transforming us into the very image of Christ, what does that say about our daily living? Here’s the predicament. Since we know God cannot fail, are we cooperating with Him?
When, or if, we are cooperating with the Father we are in a position to experience life, and that more abundantly. That builds a better you and it’s a joyful process. When, or if, we are not cooperating with the Father, we are in a position to receive His discipline and correction. As loving as that may be, it’s a more painful process.
But notice: His work is accomplished either way! His work still builds a better you.
There is no way for me to know how our Father may be challenging you in order to make you a better reflection of His Son. I do know He is doing that very thing because His Word says He is. I also know that the greatest happiness and joy in life is found in cooperating with Him. I encourage you in it. Pray for one another, and for me, that we will be found faithful in cooperation!
Soli Deo Gloria!
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