So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Ephesians 2:19 NLT
Eustace was not undragoned just for him to feel better about himself. He now was able to be a productive, happy, and fulfilled part of the community he once had misunderstood and rejected.
They lovingly welcomed him with the grace and mercy they themselves had experienced.
And in the community, he continued to grow and change. So do we. There’s always more available, and in community we discover it and help each other.
A lot of people stop growing. They become fixed, defensive, certain, unreachable.
To still be changing means …
- Your heart is still alive Your spirit is still teachable
- Grace is still at work
That is truly significant. C. S. Lewis once observed that God is easier to please than we think and harder to satisfy than we imagine. He does not settle for surface religion or improved behavior, because He intends something greater. He wants transformed people. And transformation in later years often becomes quieter and deeper.
When people are young, change is often mostly external – decisions, direction, visible growth, and activity. Later, God often works with softening old wounds, loosening pride, enlarging compassion, teaching surrender, removing fear, deepening trust, and simplifying love. The “dragon skin” I have left at 73 is often subtler than at 23. But to become like Christ, I still need my deeper layers removed.
And there’s a gift in that. Continuing to grow and change even when you have followed for a long time quietly teaches others. “You never outgrow repentance. You never outgrow grace.
You never outgrow becoming.”
It’s a wonderful life. Lived in community it gets us ready for heaven.
- Jesus, may I never quit following faithfully, becoming Your perfect design for me.