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.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
The world teaches us to look at the person in the mirror and “be the change,” meaning change your behavior and change your world. They offer programs and self-help books to try to convince you that "you can do it!”
Religion, too, promotes behavior reform and good works as a way to earn favor with God and make the world a better place. Different ideologies but the same approach—they start with the outside, external behavior. But the Bible teaches us that this is not the way to experience transformation.
Jesus explained the futility of the external method of change when He said, “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mark 7:21-23)
Here we see that our external behavior is an indication of what is in our hearts. Social and political reform never produces lasting change because these begin with changing externals when what is truly needed is an internal heart change.
But we cannot change our hearts. We need “God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” to shine in our hearts and give us “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” If we want to experience transformation, we must look to the face of One who can change us – Jesus!
And when we look to Jesus, we see that He has done what we could not. Jesus kept the law perfectly (John 8:29) and then died sacrificially on the cross to atone for our sins (1 John 2:2). At the point of His death on the cross, Jesus became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). He gave up His Spirit (John 19:30) so that we might receive His Spirit and be filled and transformed from the inside out (Ephesians 1:13-14).
And the beautiful thing about looking to Jesus for transformation is that the moment we look to Jesus in faith, the transformation process begins immediately, and then continues throughout our lives. Immediately, we become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), but continuously, we are transformed into His image as we look to Him (2 Corinthians 3:18).