We all . . . are being transformed into his image. 2 Corinthians 3:18
Choir director Arianne Abela spent her childhood sitting on her hands—to hide them. Born with fingers missing or fused together on both hands, she also had no left leg and was missing toes on her right foot. A music lover and lyric soprano, she’d planned to major in government at Smith College. But one day her choir teacher asked her to conduct the choir, which made her hands quite visible. From that moment, she found her career, going on to conduct church choirs and serving now as director of choirs at another university. “My teachers saw something in me,” Abela explains.
Her inspiring story invites believers to ask, What does God, our holy Teacher, see in us, regardless of our “limits”? More than anything, He sees Himself. “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27 nlt).
As His glorious “image bearers,” when others see us, we should reflect Him. For Abela, that means Jesus, not her hands—or her lack of fingers—matters most. The same is true for all believers. “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image,” says 2 Corinthians 3:18.
Similar to Abela, we can conduct our lives by Christ’s transforming power (v. 18), offering a life song that rings out to the honor of God.
How does knowing you are God’s “image-bearer” help you to see yourself differently? How does it help you in your interactions with others?
Thank You, God, for making me in Your image. Help me to apply this fact to all of my life.
INSIGHT
When Paul writes about “unveiled faces” (2 Corinthians 3:18), we must understand his words in the context of Exodus 33 and 34. After his first ascent of Mount Sinai, Moses had earnestly asked God to see His glory. God agreed, and then instructed Moses to climb Sinai again (see Exodus 33:18–34:3). Upon his return from the mountain, Moses’ face shone with the glory of being in the presence of God. It was too much for the people, and he covered his face with a veil (34:29–35). In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul compares the glory of the old covenant (the giving of the law) as visibly demonstrated in Moses’ face, with the glory of the new covenant (the giving and ministry of the Holy Spirit). Through the work of Jesus (vv. 13–15), God’s Holy Spirit brings us freedom to consider His glory with “unveiled faces,” and we’re “transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory” (v. 18).