I am a female carpenter. I love building stuff. It makes me happy! I also love remodeling my home. It makes my “happy” happy.
I have several remodeling projects on my list. The first is my dining room’s super-ugly 1980s fan/light. It has to go! However, I am also a bit of a tightwad, so dishing out many hundreds of dollars to buy a new chandelier is not going to happen. So, I decided to tear it out, create something new and re-hang it myself.
I’ve been looking for the perfect replacement for quite a while, and just this weekend I found something at a flea market: three beautifully rusted green porcelain industrial light fixtures, full of dents and character. My plan is to make a “chandelier” that will have these three fixtures hanging down as three pendant lights. So, I am going to build a small box which will hide the electric wires and then screw it into the ceiling. Next, I’ll buy three pendant light kits, three short pieces of industrial pipe which the electric wires will go through, and then hang these three beauties up for all the world to see. I am itching to get started!
The remodeling process is quite simple: We identify areas in our home that we are unhappy with, we tear them out and replace them with something better. The same is true for spiritual remodeling. Even though we all have different issues and circumstances that are causing us unhappiness, at the core, the process is simple as well: We identify areas in our life that we are unhappy with, we tear them out and replace them with something better, something that will make us eternally happy, something that looks like Christ.
I call this spiritual remodeling project true discipleship. And it is the most important remodeling project of our life. Even though it is the hardest project we will ever attempt—because it goes against our nature—it is, in the same breath, the most rewarding project we will ever attempt. In fact, the rewards are eternal.
Christ’s disciples did many “disciple-ish” things. They gave up everything familiar and comfortable to follow their Master. They listened to and memorized His words, some even writing them down so they could share His message with others accurately. They altered their old way of thinking so even their thoughts would resemble their teacher’s. They modified their actions so they would act like their teacher. In short, they tried to imitate their teacher in every aspect of life. They tried to become mirror images of Him. You could say they underwent a spiritual remodel.
This is what is required of you and me if we want to become true disciples of Jesus. We need to remodel our thinking into thoughts that Christ would think. We need to remodel our attitudes, actions and our willingness to be servants into Christ-like attitudes and actions and willingness to serve. With the Holy Spirit’s help, we need to remodel our image into the image of Christ so that we, too, become mirror images of Him.
This takes a lot of work. But Christ showed us how. He is our perfect example of living, of thinking, of everything.
So if you have areas in your life that are causing you spiritual unhappiness, tear them out and replace them with Christlikeness. You will be so glad you did because, in the process of becoming more like Him, you will get to know Him better. With that comes the most joy and peace and happiness you will ever experience. And that is the best reward ever.
I strapped on my pink spiritual toolbelt several years ago and remodeled my life. It changed me forever. If you want to be changed forever, I highly recommend that you too strap on your spiritual toolbelt—preferably a pink one—and start the remodel process in your life.
I’ll see you on the job site.
Prayer
Father, help me to live as a true disciple, a mirror image of Your perfect, holy Son. Open my spiritual eyes to see areas in my life where I have fallen short of His image. Give me strength and wisdom to make changes today. Amen. {eoa}
Mary Dodd, along with her husband, Tony, leads Carpenter’s Guide Ministries, a nonprofit dedicated to rebuilding the lives of others. They both enjoy sharing their story and the principles they have learned at conferences, seminars, retreats and churches. In addition to The Pink Toolbelt, Mary will release her new marriage primer, Remodel Your Marriage, in 2018. She also regularly shares her love for Christ and spiritual remodeling tips through her blog.
This article is an excerpt from Mary’s book, The Pink Toolbelt.
