Truly knowing Jesus is a heart matter. I read the Bible, I know the truths that are preached to me on Sunday – yet I have a hard time letting them seep into my heart. For the longest time, I knew who Jesus was but I didn’t KNOW what a relationship with Him was like. It all changed when I started really knowing Jesus as a person and the One who came to save me from the depth of my sin.
When I became a Christian seven years ago, there were people in my life who questioned whether someone could really change. And the answer is yes and no. We can’t change ourselves. Only God can transform our hearts and lives. Things that used to be appealing in my sinful nature no longer served me. God continues to mold us and shape us into the image of Jesus. God is adamant that He can transform hearts and He desires to do so!
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Stories of Transformation in the Bible
God’s love is a pursuing love and compelling love. In the Bible, we see the power of the Holy Spirit transform hearts. His love transforms us as we trust in Jesus Christ and experience God’s grace and mercy. No one is beyond the gracious work of God.
Paul, formerly known as Saul, experienced a radical transformation. Before Paul became a Christian, he was going around blaspheming the name of Jesus. He was persecuting Christians until Jesus met him on the road to Damascus. Paul knows a thing or two about a complete heart transformation.
Once a Christian, Paul offered his body as a living sacrifice. No matter what he faced, he had the goal of glorifying Christ through it all. He boasted in God’s greatness despite the trials he suffered.
Bible Verses on Transformation of the Heart
The heart is central to our core and the part of us that distinguishes us as creatures made in God’s image. It is only with our heart that we can genuinely praise and worship our Lord and Savior. The gospel reveals the depth of our hearts. It is through the transformation of the heart that we can experience an intimate relationship with God.
When we accept Jesus Christ in our hearts, He sends the Holy Spirit to begin a good work in us (Philippians 1:6). And we respond by putting our hope and faith in Jesus Christ. As we connect with Christ, we come alive with his abundant, joyful and God-filled life.
Ezekiel 36:26: I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
Psalm 139:23-24: Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way.
Psalm 51:10: God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Philippians 1:6: I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Proverbs 3:5: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.
Psalm 73:26: My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever.
Ecclesiastes 11:9: Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. And walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all of these things God will bring you to judgment.
Jeremiah 24:7: I will give them a heart to know Me, That I am Yahweh. They will be My people and I will be their God because they will return to Me with all their heart.
Bible Verses on Transformation of the Mind
As believers, we are called to be renewed in the spirit of our minds and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God (Ephesians 4:22-24). You can be transformed by the renewing of your mind. It takes time and perseverance to not conform to the ways of this world. While your nature was once human-focused, with all the temptations and lusts, you can be renewed to focus more on the divine nature of Jesus.
Romans 12:2: Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, perfect will of God.
Ephesians 1:18: I pray that the perception of your mind may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints.
2 Corinthians 3:18: We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Galatians 5:16: I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
Colossians 3:9-10: Do not lie to one another, since you have put off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator.
Made New In Christ
Jesus came into the world to bring light into darkness. He gives us hope even when we experience difficult seasons of life. We must hold onto the promise and hope that all will be made right when Jesus comes again. We can walk in peace knowing that He will never leave us nor forsake us.
When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we receive the Holy Spirit who makes us new. He transforms our hearts to be more like Jesus Christ himself. The new covenant doesn’t just give people the means to obey it but to accept it and make it a part of their daily lives. We have the opportunity to have a real relationship with Him.
2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.
Colossians 3:1: So if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God.
Galatians 2:20: And I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
1 John 3:2-3: Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure.
Ephesians 2:4-5: But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in our trespasses. You are saved by grace!
2 Corinthians 4:16: Therefore, we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day.
God has the power and the desire to transform hearts. He did it in my life and He wants to do it in yours. He wants to bring you into His family. What’s holding you back from believing in the name of Jesus Christ?
**Verses used in this post were taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible Translation.
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