In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:5-8 NLT
One of the most helpful and beautiful paragraphs in the entire Eustace story comes after the undragoning. Lewis says, “It would be nice, and fairly nearly true, to say that from that time forth Eustace was a different boy. To be strictly accurate, he began to be a different boy.”
That might be one of the best descriptions of being a disciple ever written. The moment I truly decide to follow Jesus, to be “undragoned,” I become a disciple. A disciple is someone who, in the words of John Mark Comer, chooses to be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what He does.” That is NOT instant perfection. But it is the beginning of becoming new.
Eustace became “a different boy.” But not perfectly all at once. That detail matters for us as well. Even after we have a profound encounter with God’s grace through salvation, we are no longer “a dragon,” but some struggles remain. Habits linger. Spiritual immaturity shows up. Yet something very deep and fundamental has changed. A transformed person repents faster, loves more freely, softens more quickly, apologizes and accepts accountability more readily, and becomes more teachable.
Following Jesus is not about rule-keeping. It is about becoming fully alive, fully human, and growing to be like Jesus. We become warmer, happier, freer, more relational, more courageous, more purposeful. Sin makes us less human, less ourselves. God’s grace restores us to who we were meant to be, and life becomes a wonderful process of discovering all that means.
Every sincere follower of Jesus will lose layers of dragon skin as we obey, follow, and become like Him. Resentment, superiority, greed, fear, self-righteousness, bitterness, image obsession, control, and cynicism leave by layers as we surrender. The invitation of transformation is not “Pretend you are not a dragon.” It is, “Follow me and I will re-create you to your original design.”
- God, I am following. Make me into who I was meant to be as I surrender. I know that You are making me to be a healthy and whole part of Your community.