I was in my early 20s when it first aired. One of those incredibly addicting, guilty-pleasure reality television shows. The Swan focused on a handful of fairly homely women undergoing all sorts of extreme plastic surgery and severe diet and exercise regimens in order to participate in the country’s most unique beauty pageant. 

To a former ugly duckling like me, the entire process was mesmerizing. I marveled at the faith these women had in the plastic surgeons who ruthlessly drew all over their faces and bodies with their surgical markers, planning every future incision. It most certainly took bravery and even a sort of stubborn determination in order for these women to make their dreams of beauty a reality. And that was just on the outside. 

People have always been interested in transformation, whether it’s of a house, a business, or our bodies. What Not to Wear. Flip This House. Biggest Loser. Channels like HGTV have built entire networks on the idea of transformation. Even class reunions, to some extent, are all about showcasing our personal transformations. 

But once again, I point out that these are all only about external transformations. How often do we consider the transformation of our internal lives, our spiritual lives?

This fall during Weekend Celebrations at The Vineyard, we are studying a message series called “Missing Pieces.” Sometimes it feels like one of the greatest missing pieces in a Christian life can be this idea of an internal transformation, a changed spiritual life. 

I grew up Roman Catholic and spent 10-and-a-half years in a Catholic school. I had celebrated my first reconciliation, my first communion, and my confirmation. I attended Mass every Sunday, prayed a series of “Our Fathers” and “Hail Marys” every night before I went to bed. And even after my mom found salvation through Jesus Christ and left the Catholic Church with my brothers and sister, she allowed me, a freshman in high school, to continue to follow my religious convictions, even though I was now doing it alone. 

At the time, I truly believed that I was doing the right thing, everything I knew to do, everything I had been taught to do to achieve righteousness with God. But then one summer I learned something that opened my eyes: All the external perfection in the world cannot get me any closer to God or to Heaven. 

Titus 3:5 says that Jesus “saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy.” All the hours and effort I had been putting into external acts of worship and righteousness had not moved me one inch closer to Heaven and the God I was so desperately seeking. What I truly needed in my life was an internal transformation. 

How do we achieve that transformation? The rest of Titus 3:5 tells us that “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” Rebirth comes only through first accepting the fact that Christ’s blood on the cross is enough; in fact, it is the only way to God and the only sacrifice that’s needed. Once we have accepted this most basic fact, then He can really begin transforming us internally through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Believe it or not, transformation is just as important to God as it is to us — a crucial building block in the life of every Christian. The Bible actually directly urges us to be internally transformed. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” And just like any diet and exercise routine, this spiritual transformation can and should occur on a daily basis. 

Like a spiritual plastic surgeon, God wants to mark up our lives with His surgical marker. Sometimes it’s things we need to cut out; other times there are areas we need to enhance. Either way, He simply is waiting for us to hand Him the marker. 

So where are you on your path to transformation? Where are you focusing your time and attention? We’ve been told that beauty is only skin deep, but we need to realize that our good deeds also only scratch the surface. Have you allowed God to begin changing your heart? 

The question today is not just “What are you doing for God?” It’s “What is God doing in you?”

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