As I was unscrewing the blinds in my storage room, I found myself near tears thinking about God & his love for me & for you. I had to step down off the ladder to regain my composure.

SIDE NOTE: I bought my dream house, and it is a very sweet, God-ordained story that you can read about here if you’d like.

I’m sure you’re wondering why I care about the blinds in my storage room.

Well, if this is the first time we’re crossing paths, I am OCD. How a home feels is very important to me. From the living room to the storage room, I want every nook & cranny to feel inviting. I want it to represent who I am & what I love.

That includes removing the blinds in both storage rooms & adding window valances instead. It also includes removing shrubs, building a fence for my puppy (Gwendolyn), putting up a basketball goal (a house is never complete without a basketball goal in my opinion), and eventually adding a chicken coop, cut flower garden, and vegetable garden.

I’ve been gradually making changes as I can afford them…constantly searching on Facebook Marketplace & making monthly trips to Canton (weather permitting) to find deals.

I want to create something beautiful in my home…one project at a time.

The changes are slow, but intentional.

Anyway, as I was attempting to unhinge the blinds, I found myself reminded of a quote by CS Lewis about sanctification. The quote reads as follows: 

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

I believe God tends to our hearts (if we’re open to the work He desires to do in us) the same way I tend to my home—one intentional change at a time.

There are aspects of my home that don’t quite reflect the outcome I desire.

For example, I still need to finish decorating my guest room…but it’s a challenge both figuring out and finding the right accent piece to hang above the bed. The centerpiece on my dining table doesn’t look the way I want it to at this point in time. There are dirt spots in my backyard where I had trees/shrubs removed that I need to eventually fill with sod.

The list goes on.

It’s livable, sure, and it may even appear complete to some folks, but I know it’s not the truest & purest picture of what I desire my home to be.

It‘s far more than just cosmetics.

In the same way, there are qualities about me, places in my heart, that don’t reflect Jesus. I’m a Christian, sure, and I may do a lot of things Christians do from the outside looking in…but God knows the deepest places of my heart. He knows I am not the truest & purest reflection of Jesus He desires for me to be on this side of Heaven. I have a loooooong ways to go.

God is aware of all the ways I choose self-protection rather than loving others in a way that’s going to cost me. He sees me wrestling with finding the desire to move towards others who are hard to be with. My self-centeredness rears it’s ugly head more times than I’d like to admit.

Just like my house, the list goes on.

Just like my house, the journey towards sanctification is far more than just cosmetics.

I think it’s easy for us to deceive ourselves and overlook the work that needs to be done in us as believers in Christ to make us look more like Jesus. We coast through life thinking we’ve got it made because we don’t cheat on our significant other, we don’t steal, we don’t swear (a lot), etc.

As a result, we often settle for convenient and casual Christianity. We settle for the wide road that doesn’t shed light on all the ways we’re not loving others like Jesus.

Following Jesus is hard. We’re called to demonstrate the Gospel to others by the way we relate to them. Knowing the Gospel, memorizing Bible verses, and never missing church might make us feel good about our faith and our relationship with Jesus, but knowing the Gospel is not what is going to change our life from the inside out. Living it out, walking the narrow road, allowing God to create something beautiful in us, denying ourselves & taking up our cross DAILY…THAT is what changes our life.

Becoming “little Christs” is an ongoing, lifelong journey that won’t be completed on this side of Heaven.

My home may appear to be complete or “good enough” to others, but I’m committed to create something beautiful in the spaces God has given me. I know there is still work to be done. There will always be another project that needs my attention.

In the same way, God is relentlessly pursuing our hearts. He is committed to drawing us nearer to Him, and He loves us too much to leave us as we are. While it may appear on the outside we have it all together, God knows there is still work to be done, and He won’t let up. Not on this side of Heaven. He longs for the beauty of Christ to be revealed in every nook and cranny of our hearts.

Although painful at times, God is doing a good work in you & in me…never ceasing to continue shaping us into the men & women He created us to be…into the likeness of His son.

He’s creating something beautiful in us.

The change is slow, but intentional. 

I find myself wondering what it looks like to be continuously open to the work God is wanting to do in me.

As I change light fixtures and plant zinnias and find creative ways to keep flies out, I hope to always be reminded of God’s love for me and the work He desires to do in my heart to make me look like Jesus.

“Following Jesus is hard. We’re called to demonstrate the Gospel to others by the way we relate to them. Knowing the Gospel, memorizing Bible verses, and never missing church might make us feel good about our faith and our relationship with Jesus, but knowing the Gospel is not what is going to change our life from the inside out. Living it out, walking the narrow road, allowing God to create something beautiful in us, denying ourselves & taking up our cross DAILY…THAT is what changes our life.

Becoming ‘little Christs’ is an ongoing, lifelong journey that won’t be completed on this side of Heaven.”