🌄 Failing Forward – Day 4

The Lie of “Instant Transformation”

Scripture

2 Corinthians 3:18 —
“And we all… are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

Devotional

One of the quietest and most damaging lies Christians believe is this:

“If I were truly saved, I would be instantly changed.”

We imagine transformation as a dramatic before-and-after moment, a spiritual switch flipped overnight. When that doesn’t happen, we begin to wonder:

• Did I do something wrong?

• Is my faith weak?

• Why am I still struggling?

But Scripture reveals a completely different picture of how God transforms His people.
2 Corinthians 3:18 says we are being transformed — an ongoing, active process. The phrase in Greek implies a gradual, continual change over time, not a sudden perfection.

God shapes us like a potter forms clay: slowly, intentionally, layer by layer.

Transformation often looks like:

• learning to pause instead of react

• confessing sooner than before

• choosing peace more often

• noticing God in everyday moments

• softening in places that were once hardened

• returning to God more quickly after stumbling

These small shifts, often unnoticed at first, are the real markers of spiritual growth.

Instant transformation makes for dramatic stories —
but gradual transformation makes lifelong disciples.

If your change feels slow, it’s not because you’ve failed. It’s because God is forming something lasting in you.

Reflection Question

Where in your life have you expected instant change, and how might God be inviting you into a slower, deeper transformation?

Journal Prompt

Write about one area where you’ve grown slowly over time, even if imperfectly.
Thank God for the progress you may not have noticed before.