Transformation
A compilation
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No Christian is perfect; we all make mistakes, we all sin, and none of us has complete Christlikeness, nor will we attain it in this life. Developing godly character can’t be achieved by “keeping rules” out of a sense of duty, or feeling that if we systematically do all the right things, we will be living in a Christlike manner. While there are specific things to do and rules to keep, it’s not the rote keeping of them that develops godliness; rather it’s doing so in response to our love for God, who dwells within us. The actions that reflect godliness come from within us, from our relationship with God and our becoming new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). It’s by the work of the Holy Spirit that our character is transformed.
Of course, there’s some work to be done for us to grow in Christlikeness. There are moral decisions we individually need to make on a regular basis to bring our lives, thoughts, and actions into alignment with the teachings of the Bible. But all of this must be seen within the framework of God’s grace. It’s the Holy Spirit that brings about the changes in our lives that move us in the direction of Christlikeness. We have a part to play as well, but the actual transformation comes through the Holy Spirit.—Peter Amsterdam
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I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.—Romans 12:1–2
The phrase “the mercies of God” refers to all of what has preceded in chapters 1–11. The exhortation that Paul presents is that since we have been the recipients of God’s great mercies, we are to be “living sacrifices” to God. …
A living sacrifice to God is one who does not conform, but is transformed. … As unbelievers, we are naturally conformed to the world (Ephesians 2:1–3). As believers, we are no longer conformed to this world because we no longer belong to the spirit of this age. We have been translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). Therefore, rather than continuing to conform to this world, we are to be transformed by having our minds renewed. …
Our thinking must be changed (transformed) from old, ungodly ways of thinking into new, godly ways of thinking. What we know in our minds to be true forms a conviction in our hearts of that truth, and that conviction in our hearts translates into action. Therefore, we must first renew our minds.—Got Questions1
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Here’s the reason the Christian life is freedom. The transformation is a transformation from bondage into freedom. Here’s the reason: Freedom is doing what you love to do, if what you love to do is what you ought to do, and transformation is the change of our hearts, so that what we love to do is what we ought to do. …
The Christian life is one long process of crucifying those old desires and experiencing, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the awakening of new passions and new desires, so that I can stand at the front of this church and say, “There is no place on planet earth I would rather be than standing here, loving these people, welcoming, and preaching,” which would not have been the case when I was fifteen. God changes and God transforms.
“The renewal of your mind” … is the key to the transformation. You’re sitting there, I hope, with the Holy Spirit at work, saying, “I don’t feel very far along in that process of loving and delighting in what I ought to do, and hating and finding unpleasing what I ought not to do. You better say something practically helpful here because I need to know how to get changed.” That is what this verse says we should do: Be transformed—and then, it says something very weighty, worthy of a whole sermon—by the renewing of your mind.
So what is that and how do you get it? Oh, how crucial this is. If you long to break loose from conformity to the world, if you long to be transformed from the inside out, if you long to be free from duty-driven Christianity;… if you long to offer up your body as a living sacrifice, so that your whole life becomes worship and displays the glory of Jesus, rather than just displaying selfishness; …if you want that kind of freedom, then pursue with all your might the renewal of your mind, because Paul says that’s where the transformation comes from. Be transformed by the renewal of your mind.—John Piper2
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“When God is doing a deep work, there is a lot you can’t explain. There’s a knowing, yet no plan. There’s unshakable hope, yet endless tears. There’s gratitude while learning grit. You don’t know what comes next, but you do know this: Whatever He is doing, you’ll never be the same.”
I wrote those words in the middle of a season that felt impossible. I felt God calling me away from a job I loved, yet I had no idea what came next. In the days after, I felt stuck and painfully uncertain. I held on to God with all I had, but His plans seemed hidden. I craved clarity, but all I had was the faint sense that He was still at work—despite my panicked heart.
Maybe you’re in your own in-between season where God’s plan feels hard to grasp. And yet you’re determined to hold on to Him. These are the moments when we wrestle with Him.
When you wrestle with someone, it’s up close and personal. It’s messy and exhausting and demands all you have.
Consider the way God came to wrestle Jacob in Genesis 32. Jacob found himself stuck between leaving his past and stepping into God’s call for his future. God could have intervened in any way, but He chose to wrestle. For Jacob, this was an act of clinging to the One he struggled with while releasing the outcomes he had tried to control his whole life.
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
But the wrestling itself wasn’t the point. After a long night of grappling, Jacob demanded a blessing—and God gave it to him: “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome” (Genesis 32:28).
When the struggle ended, Jacob walked away with a limp but also with a new identity. Jacob wanted God to remove the challenge, but God wanted him to be changed.
Friend, your wrestling isn’t wasted. Like Jacob, your struggle will mark you—not with defeat but with God’s transforming work. I know this because I’ve lived it.
The season that once left me feeling lost and unsure was the very place where God met me. I didn’t get the clarity I wanted, but I got something I needed: a deeper trust in Him. The wrestling was never about where I was going; it was about who I was becoming.
You may not know what comes next, but you can trust this: God’s not just working on your circumstances. He’s also working on you. Your struggle isn’t proof of God’s absence but a sign of His nearness. Hold on! When you come through this, you’ll see you were never alone.
Lord, I believe I’m in a season of wrestling, and I don’t understand what You’re doing. Help me to hold on to You, even when it’s hard. Change me through this process, and remind me that Your work in me is always good. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.—Ashley Morgan Jackson3
Published on Anchor July 2026. Read by John Laurence. Music by Michael Fogarty.
1 “What does it mean to be transformed by the renewing of the mind?” GotQuestions.org, https://www.gotquestions.org/renewing-the-mind.html
2 John Piper, “True Freedom Begins with Your Mind,” Desiring God, June 15, 2017, https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/the-renewed-mind-and-how-to-have-it/excerpts/true-freedom-begins-with-your-mind
3 Ashley Morgan Jackson, “Holding On to God When Life Feels Messy and Unclear,” Proverbs 31, April 24, 2025, https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2025/04/24/holding-on-to-god-when-life-feels-messy-and-unclear
