There’s a big difference between knowing God’s Word, and knowing God. One involves reading the text and having the information in our head; the other involves truly believing with our whole heart. Religion requires us to attain knowledge and apply it to our lives in order to change our behavior, but God offers us so much more than that when He transforms us from the inside out.

Who lives inside us is of far greater significance than what we look like on the outside. When we choose to follow Jesus, He cleans us up from the inside out. Our relationship with Him and the life transformation He wants to complete in us matters more than simply trying to follow all the rules and modifying our behavior for the sake of religion.

Just because we’re saved as Christians, doesn’t mean our lives will automatically transform overnight. We can easily remain in denial if we choose, surrounding ourselves with people who will tell us we’re doing fine and don’t need to make any changes when we decide to follow Jesus. But He didn’t save us so that we could stay stuck in our sin; He saved us so that we could experience the joy of a constantly-growing relationship with Him.

We can’t expect true change to happen around us until it first takes place within us. While our purpose on earth is to glorify God, we’ll quickly find that not even our best “religious” attempts can succeed. Following Jesus requires a genuine heart transformation — and that leads to the world around us being transformed for His glory.

Do you know why God didn’t put eyes in the back of our heads? Because that’s not the direction He wants us to go! After we’ve gone through the stages of regret, reset, and restore, it’s time for us to resume the work that God’s called us to do. No matter what we’ve done or what’s happened to us in the past, we can’t allow it to hold us back from moving forward in the purpose God’s called us to and the work He’s left us on this earth to complete.

“I did it my way” might have been a great line for Frank Sinatra, but it’s not a good approach for you and me if we’re striving to follow Jesus! When we apply God’s Word to our lives consistently and faithfully, we begin to see our lives transformed in a powerful — and eternal — way.

Insider trading might be illegal on the stock market, but it’s the best type of “spiritual trading” we can ever do! When we trade our lives in to God and ask Him to fill us with His life instead, He gives us His Spirit to lead us each and every day. And when we let His light shine through us, it attracts other people to the saving power of the Gospel, too.

Wisdom is more than just knowing the truth — it requires applying that truth in a way that brings life transformation. Having knowledge about the truth of Scripture doesn’t mean anything unless we’re also applying it to our lives. When God makes Himself known to us through His Word and we choose to act on what He says, a discernible transformation occurs that’s visible to others and that reveals His glory to them.

If being a Christian were a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you? When we surrender our lives to Christ, we’re born again with the Holy Spirit inside us — and that’s a heart transformation that everyone around us should be able to see!