Training or Transformation?

Recently I was listening to a podcast of a sermon where the pastor mentioned the difference between training and transformation. I've been noodling the concept ever since.

We can train ourselves to stay within certain behavioral parameters and call it obedience, but never be truly changed. On the other hand, if we commit to being transformed by God's Spirit in every area of our lives, disobedient behaviors will remedy themselves. The difference lies in the source of change - is it me or is it God?

This reminded me of something that happened to me about fifteen years ago. Because of complications from a childhood infection, most of my teen years and early 20's were plagued by chronic but manageable hip pain. By my mid-20's severe arthritis had developed and by 29 I was on prescription pain medication and walking with a cane.

As hard as I might have trained to walk more than a block or two without my cane or medication at that time, I was always going to be limited by the bone-against-bone friction in my hip socket. I could mask the symptoms and keep a stiff upper lip when the pain got to me, but ultimately, I could only do so much to change what was possible for me in this area.

Fast forward to June 1995 and a total hip replacement. After surgery and a few weeks of recovery and physical therapy, I was a new woman! I could walk miles, not yards. I could hike; I could bike; I could tie my own shoes! It was nothing short of a total life transformation.

A delightful side effect of removing my constant pain was a drastic improvement in my disposition. I hadn't realized how crabby years of chronic arthritis had made me! Physically and emotionally I was a new creation, all because of a little titanium in my hip.

See the connection? On my own I am extremely limited in modifying my sinful behaviors. I can tell myself over and over to watch my tongue and hopefully I will say fewer hurtful things this year than I did last year. But if I allow myself to be transformed by the Holy Spirit, giving Him control of my heart to change my passions and desires, then the overflow will naturally be more in line with the fruit only He can produce in me: love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

Lord, transform me. I commit to training in righteousness and trusting you to do what only you can do: make me a new creation in Christ. Amen.