Recently an acquaintance invited me to view a slide show of flowers on her I-Pad. I was delighted until I saw her screen―so smeared with fingerprints and smudges that I couldn’t concentrate on the magnificent flowers. The woman didn’t apologize or even seem to notice the condition of her screen. Later, I realized she probably didn’t even see the smears because she was used to them.

Over the next few days, the Holy Spirit brought this event to mind again and again, as He often does when He wants me to look for a spiritual truth in a secular situation. Could it be, I wondered, that people are distracted from seeing the beauty of Jesus in us because our lives are smeared with sin and character flaws that have been part of us for so long we don’t see them or notice how offensive they are?

Throughout the seasons of my life, the Holy Spirit has taken me and others I love through many times of cleansing and pruning to remove the smears and smudges. Step one was making me aware of the sin or character flaw. Here’s a portion of one devotional from Homespun Faith, The Giant Makeover, telling how God prepared us for going as missionaries to Japan:

“God continues to place me in situations exquisitely orchestrated to bring to the surface weaknesses that have been well hidden. Sometimes only I am aware of how badly I’m reacting inwardly, and sometimes it becomes apparent to those around me. Anger and embarrassment usually rise in me and, eventually, a feeling of helplessness to change the deeply ingrained pattern.”

None of us like to feel helpless. None of us like to feel embarrassed by our weaknesses. None of us like to feel that we’re caught in a pattern we don’t know how to break. But here’s what I discovered:

“Uncomfortable as it is, the feeling of helplessness is necessary for the correction process. Each of us must realize that we are not able to change our behavior or our attitudes except by God’s grace as we repent and cooperate with Him.” (Homespun Faith)

 There’s a reason the Twelve Step Program begins with admitting we are powerless over our problem but believe that a power greater than ourselves can restore us. Then comes making a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves, admitting to God, ourselves and another human being the exact nature of our wrongs, and finally, becoming entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

The fancy word for this process in the lives of Christians is sanctification, the process by which we become more and more like Jesus. Positionally, we are new creatures in Christ from the moment of salvation, but practically, Christians are all in a process of transformation. After sharing many examples of the sanctification process in Homespun Faith, I discovered it’s not always a popular subject. One review implied that I “spent too much time polishing the window rather than just enjoying the view.” At the same time, they added that I was “a lovely person who lights up the space around her.” I smiled because if I “light up the space around me,” it’s because Jesus has polished my windows to remove many of the smears and smudges that kept His light from shining through me.

 Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]( Revelation 3:19 AMP).

God disciplines us for our good that we may share in His holiness (Hebrews 12:10).

God loves me just the way I am today, but much too much to let me stay that way (author unknown) is an important truth to remember as we allow the transformation process to continue. My hope is to let the Holy Spirit continue to conform me to the image of Christ so that my “caterpillar days” would be just a distant memory to me and those who knew me then.

Thank you, Father, for loving me enough to tell me what I don’t want to hear and being patient during the transformation process. Amen.