“Though your sins be as scarlet, they will be white as snow.” Isaiah 1:18
What a beautiful snowfall we have had here in Virginia! It was fun watching it come down and begin to change the outdoors into a winter wonderland. Everything looks new, clean, fresh and shiny. It is lovely to look at (through the windows!) and amazing how a few hours can change the landscape to pure beauty.
Of course, eventually the trucks will come through and scrape it. It will warm up and turn brown and black and get piled up and will not be so pretty. But for now, we will pause and enjoy the beauty before reality hits.
This makes me think of the life of a new Believer in Christ. They come to a realization of their need for Him and an acceptance of His free gift of His blood to pay the heavy cost of their sin. It is a beautiful thing to be a part of and is not only life changing, but death changing. The landscape of their life is made new.
But time moves on and the realities of life hit. The heavy things of life come plowing through their snow white wonderland and things turn and are not as pretty as they were on the day of salvation.
This is to be expected. Jesus Christ changes our eternal destiny, but it is a process for lives to change. Romans 12:2 tells us, “ Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
Transformation takes time. Just as a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly or a tadpole becomes a frog, a human being changing an entire life does not always happen overnight. We become a ‘new creature’ (2 Corinthians 5:17) “by changing the way you think.” (Romans 12:2) The inward changes come before the outward changes.
How do we change the way we think? There are many ideas about this, but most have these two beliefs in common: 1) it is the people you meet, books you read, and things you watch that influence you the most and 2) every belief system needs to have an anchor to go back to measure our thoughts against. When the behavior and customs of the world arise, you are able to find a foundation in your anchor. This is one of the reasons it is so important to know scripture, study it and teach it to others. Our Anchor must be Jesus Christ.
This is why discipleship is so important. Most of our New Testament is directed toward teaching Believers how to grow in Christ and think differently than the world. This is to help us transform and be different, which takes time.
Let us be patient, kind and willing to walk alongside those who are in a different season with Jesus than we are. There is no one size fits all in Christianity-we serve a delightfully creative God and that is exemplified in the people He created more than anywhere.
Walk through the seasons, the beautiful snow, the ugly, and sometimes hard, that comes after, with our new brothers and sisters and continue to direct them to the anchor of Jesus.
“Father, help us to love others well no matter what season they are in. Please keep us anchored tightly to You and Your Word.”
For His Glory
Terrie Tollerson
TRBC Women’s Ministry









