Modification vs. Transformation

Full Disclosure: I am stealing this premise directly from a sermon at church from a couple weeks ago.

Transformation. Modification. They sound like the same thing, right? Turns out, they are not. Especially when you are on the path we are.

When you modify something, you make a change, but it is more of an external change. Like I can modify my car to look like a tank on the outside. However, at its very core, it is still a car. It don't have the horsepower of a tank, it doesn't have the firepower of a tank. It just appears to be a tank to the naked eye.

When you transform something, you change its essence. A caterpillar transforms into a butterfly. You have a whole new thing once the transformation process is complete. The thing transformed is changed at its very essence.

So what you say? I think I have spent far too much time trying to modify my behavior, rather than transforming me! I am walking and lifting weights and tracking calories and making goals. But in my mind, I am not enjoying whatever results I may be getting. Because I feel like I am being deprived of something I love. I love food. I love gooey, yummy, greasy, fat filled, sugar laden food. So while I am making changes in my life, they are aesthetic only, and will remain that way until I can TRANSFORM myself into a person who sees food as fuel only, not as a filler for emotional hurts or hang ups, or as salve for the wounded soul. I have to transform my mind and my heart to a healthy attitude towards food!

Romans 12:1- offer your body as a living sacrifice to God. I can't help but think of the fact that the Holy Spirit lives within me, and with each poor food choice I make, I am dumping trash in God's Temple. And that makes me sad. On to transforming myself for the Glory of my God, my Savior, and my Strength!!