Focusing on Self-improvement Doesn’t Work

2 Corinthians 3:16-18

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Focusing on self-improvement doesn’t really work, and there’s a reason for that.

There’s this interesting thing about the way we’re designed, where when we focus on something and value something and really just ponder something, we tend to become more like the thing that we focus on. In the Old Testament, the prophets would call out the people who were worshiping false gods and say, those gods that really aren’t alive. You’re becoming like them. And if you think about just the way we work, whatever it is that we are focused in on, whether it be sports, or music, or other interests, or books we read, we tend to model. We are imitators by nature.

And so then what happens if you look back and you’re constantly looking at, okay, this is how I got to try to do better. This is where I’ve fallen short. This is where I’m going to try to improve. It’s actually this weird inward where you actually become more like part of yourself, I guess. And if the focus is on yourself and you see again your failed attempts to be better, you actually then can start to have more failed attempts to be better. It kind of snowballs. And the answer that God has for us is so much better, because it’s a turn away from self to Jesus.

We look at Jesus and we see that he lived the life we were meant to live, but we don’t. He died for us on that cross. He took the justice for your sins, and mine. Paid for it. And he came back to life, showing that we have this new life with God. And as we gaze at him, we are transformed by him. There’s this really powerful section in Second Corinthians chapter three, and here the apostle Paul is referring back to when Moses would come down from having received the covenant, the laws. That actually, at first, after having been up there, his face was glowing. It was kind of scary for people. And so Moses would put this veil on his face. But also Paul gives us this insight to that part of why he would put the veil on his faces, because the glowing started to fade, and he didn’t want people to realize that. Now, if that amazing transformation happened to Moses from receiving the original covenant, how much more of a transformation happens for us now? And he goes on to say,

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:16-18 EHV)

See, because Jesus has removed our sin, we can confidently look to God and really see God in Jesus. And we don’t have to have this veil that covers our face. We don’t have to be afraid of God in this way. We’re forgiven. We know we are loved. We can look at him, and we also don’t have to be afraid that the glory is going to fade. Jesus is God himself. He has conquered our sin. He is the promised one. That glory is not going anywhere. We have eternity with him. And so we get to confidently, boldly, continuously look at him. And according to these words, the more we look at Jesus, the more we are transformed to be like Jesus.

So sometimes self-reflection can be good, but may that self-reflection point you back to the cross and turn your gaze to Jesus. That’s where our focus needs to be. That’s the focus that transforms because it’s Jesus and the Spirit, not us, and not even our attempts to focus on him. It’s Jesus, the Spirit. It’s our God who transforms us.