Devotional Thought- By Beholding We Become Changed

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed unto the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. II Corinthians 3:18

We have heard it time and time again, “By beholding we become changed”. But what does it really mean? God has made us as creatures with impressionable minds. In a nutshell, we are like sponges. We absorb what we immerse ourselves in. Whatever we focus on is what we become like, thus the phrase, by beholding we become changed.

If we want to be like Christ, we must spend time getting to know Him and continue to “hang around” him by immersing ourselves in His word. The good news is, that we never have to try to get rid of our sins. Spending time with Christ will make us want to abandon them.

The opposite also holds true, if we spend time listening to a lot of negativity, we will become negative.

A few examples come to mind to illustrate how this miraculous change comes about. For those who have children, you know when your children have new friends or have been introduced to a new concept. How do you know?-by the changes in their behavior. They say things differently, their attitude is different, and their responses to you are different. Any parent who knows their children, knows when their children have different influences in their lives.

Another example that comes to mind is when I changed my eating habits. I added fresh raw fruits and vegetables (salad with leafy greens) every day and made sure I was drinking plenty of water. After doing this a while, I paid a visit to McDonald's. The same food that I had eaten often for most of my life, and enjoyed, was now disgusting. I had not made a decision in my mind to never eat there. After eating healthy, I no longer wanted to eat there.

So it is with beholding Christ. After we get to know His spotless character, how He sacrificed beyond comprehension, we become dissatisfied with who we are and we start to act like Him! Praise God that I don’t have to try to be like Christ. I can just spend time with Him and He’ll rub off on me!