Many times we would have heard your leaders use the words ‘reform’ and ‘transform’. These words most times are used when it has to do with development. But what do these words really mean? According to my dictionary, the word ‘reformation means “Improvement (or an intended improvement) in the existing form or condition of institutions or practices etc.”; the word ‘transformation’ on the other hand means, “The act of changing in form or shape or appearance”. The former has to do with improving on what exist, while the latter has to do with a complete change of a thing, or I could say a recreation of a thing. Now you know the difference, the end. Wait! There’s a reason why this is so important and I want you to keep reading.
There’s a story of a chicken who had a dream of being an eagle; this chicken admired an eagle that stayed not far from it. The chicken was ready to anything to become an eagle, so this chicken summoned courage and went to meet the eagle [yea, how did the chicken climb so high? Joke, keep reading, there’s a message]; the chicken met the eagle and told the eagle he wanted to be an eagle needs to know all what it would take. The eagle told the chicken everything, but the sad thing was that the chicken followed every instruction given to him by the eagle to the letter, but he could act as the eagle. He tried for months and months, but no breakthrough; it was then that the chicken went to visit the eagle and told the eagle he had tried everything he gave him but there was no breakthrough.
The eagle then told the chicken, “The reason why you can never be like me is because you are a chicken and I am an eagle. It is my nature to act like an eagle while it is your nature to act like a chicken. There is nothing you can do, just live your life as a chicken”. This scripturally was how man lived under the first covenant; they did all they could to live the life of God, to please Him. This is called reformation, when you try to improve yourself but aren’t different. With all these man couldn’t naturally be like God, because our nature wasn’t of God and there was nothing we could do about it. Wait stop, there was something we could do to live the life of God as our nature, how?
Now this story is slightly different; an eagle egg was placed along slide with chicken egg; the eagle egg hatched about the same time with the chicken egg. Now because the eagle kept seeing chicken around it, it would keep behaving like a chicken, that isn’t its nature. Until the eagle gets to know who it is and its abilities, it would forever behave as a chicken.
Many of us are like the eagle without knowing who what it is capable of. In fact the moment you accept Christ as Lord by being born again, we become just like the eagle without knowing its abilities. The question now is how are we to determine who we are? It through the diligent meditation of the Word of God. The bible says in Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you]” AMPC.
The Word of God tells who we are in Christ, the Word explains how we are different from the way and standard of the world, just like explaining how the eagle’s life is different from the life of the chicken. The Word is a mirror which reflects our new nature, showing us that we are “Christ’s” in the flesh and not just mere human beings. So, knowing who we really are is the transformation I was talking about. We died and was buried, but when we came back to life, it wasn’t us, it was someone completely new, never seen before [ref. 2 Corinthians 5:17].
This time around, we won’t be like man under the old covenant who didn’t have the nature of God, this time around our new self has the nature of God inbuilt [ref. Hebrews 8:10-12]. Understand that you are completely different. The only reason why you still act the way you were acting before you became born again is simple, you don’t know who you are. That is why the moment you get born again, God has ordained some leader (Pastors, Prophets, Evangelist, Teachers, Apostles] who would equip you Spiritually, making you understand who you are in Christ, in order for you to have a firm grip of the Word of God and having a strong foundation Christ where you can’t be tossed to and fro [ref. Ephesians 4:11-16].
As you are transformed, you need to keep studying and meditating on the Word, so as to keep growing, knowing who you are [ref. 2 Peter 3:18]. Once you stop you go back to your comfort zone of the chicken, and in this case the world who would take you away from the Word. The Word is moving against the tide of the world, so it takes courage and perseverance to live the life God has called you for, of which God at the end would say, “well done, good and faithful servants”. Be transformed not reformed.
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GOD BLESS YOU.
Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from New King James Version (NKJV)
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