Conformed To His Image

“God can use our pain to work for us instead of against us.”

- Lysa TerKeurst

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose… to be conformed to the image of His Son.”

- The Apostle Paul, Romans 8:28-29

What does it mean that in all things God works for the good? We want it to mean that things are always going to work out the way we desire them to, but that is not what the verse says. If we read on into verse 29, the Apostle Paul spells out what “the good” means. It means that we are being conformed to the image of His Son. It might even require some pain and discomfort in this life.

And, as much as we would like things to always work out the way we want them to, there is actually no better result we could hope for than to be conformed to the image of God’s Son.

In Romans 12:2, the Apostle Paul exhorts us to “be transformed by the renewing of our mind.”

It means changing our goals, our aspirations and our desires away from the things of this world and toward the things of God. It means becoming more and more like Jesus. As Pastor Rick Warren writes, “A disciple is one who thinks, feels and acts like Jesus Christ. It is being conformed to the image of Christ as Romans 8:28-29 states – that God’s #1 purpose in this life is to make us like Jesus.”

Paul Washer, who for 10 years served as a missionary in Peru, wrote, “I would not trade the difficult years for all the prosperity in the world. God knows what each one of us must suffer in order to be conformed to the image of Christ.”

If being conformed to the image of Christ requires some pain, discomfort and suffering in my life, I say, “Bring it on!

Pastor Ken

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