I offer you the opportunity for transformation. Do you realize the value of this? Have you desired it and begun this process? Did you think that if you did that others would notice and admire the changes taking place in you? How did that work out for you? Transformation involves increasing awareness. If this is taking place in you it doesn’t necessarily follow that it is taking place in others at the same time. Even if there are real changes taking place in you, how would they notice? Don’t set your heart on your transformative journey and move ahead with it because others notice and approve. Do it because I am drawing you forward and you know it is the right thing to do. 

Have you received injuries during your life? It seems inevitable to have both visible and invisible wounds. What is your attitude toward yours? Are you ashamed of them and wish that all traces of them would go away? But even wounds that are healed can leave scars. Your attitude toward your wounds will determine their effect on you. Consider the ugly things that were done to me. Did I not make all things new in the act of redemption? Yet the marks endured beyond my resurrection and I showed  them off to my disciples. Don’t ask for your wounds to go away. Ask for them to be transformed from ordinary to sacred wounds.

Do you find music to be repetitive? That is intentional, and is true of both sacred and secular music. You would find this type of repetition to be tedious in prose, but the purpose of music is more than conveying information. Once through would be enough for that. But music is evocative and influences you emotionally and spiritually. That takes longer than a single exposure. Are you aware of this influence that music has on you? It doesn’t just inform you, it changes you. I want you to understand this so you can make intentional choices about the music you listen to and sing that it may be a positive influence. 

Have you ever seen the effects of mob mentality? Otherwise normal people get caught up in a moment and lose restraint and self-control, and do things they would not normally do alone. Riots are vivid examples of this, but there are more subtle forms of groupthink. Everyone tends to associate with those who are likeminded, and churches are no exception to this rule. Even I had my devoted disciples and an inner circle among them. It isn’t wrong to conform, but it is dangerous to be unaware. Examine your associations to see if they are working in your favor or against you.