Growing in Christ comes from a deepening relationship with Him.

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. Romans 8:29

My wife, Carolyn, and I met Phipps Festus Bourne in 1995 in his shop in Mabry Hill, Virginia. Bourne, who died in 2002, was a master wood carver whose carvings are almost exact replicas of real objects. “Carving a duck is simple,” he said. “You just look at a piece of wood, get in your head what a duck looks like, and then cut off everything that doesn’t look like it.”

So it is with God. He looks at you and me—blocks of rough wood—envisions the Christlike woman or man hidden beneath the bark, knots, and twigs and then begins to carve away everything that does not fit that image. We would be amazed if we could see how beautiful we are as finished “ducks.”

But first we must accept that we are a block of wood and allow the Artist to cut, shape, and sand us where He will. This means viewing our circumstances—pleasant or unpleasant—as God’s tools that shape us. He forms us, one part at a time, into the beautiful creature He envisioned in our ungainly lump of wood.

Sometimes the process is wonderful; sometimes it is painful. But in the end, all of God’s tools conform us “to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29).

Do you long for that likeness? Put yourself in the Master Carver’s hands.

Father, You are the craftsman who shapes me. You are the one who knows what shape my life should take. Thank You for carving me into the image You have planned. Help me to trust that the pieces and parts that You shave from me are the right ones.

与上帝有更深的关系，就能在基督里成长。

因为祂预先所知道的人，就预先定下效法祂儿子的模样。-罗马书8章29节

我和妻子于1995年在维吉尼亚州见到包恩，他是位出色的雕刻家，可惜已在2002年过世。包恩的作品简直就是原物的翻版，他说：“雕刻一只鸭子很简单，你只要看着木头，想着鸭子的样子，然后除去所有不像鸭子的部分就行了。”

上帝也是如此。祂看着你我，就像是看着粗糙的木头，想着那有基督样式的男人或女人，正隐藏在树皮、树节和树枝之下，于是祂除去不合乎这形象的部分。若我们能看见自己经过上帝雕琢后的最终样式，必定惊叹不已。

但首先，我们必须承认自己是未经雕琢的木头，并愿意让上帝这位雕刻家按照祂的心意在我们的生命中切割、塑型和削平磨光。我们应当将各样的环境，无论顺境或逆境，都视为上帝用来塑造我们的工具。上帝逐步地塑造我们，慢慢使我们这原本粗糙的木头，成为祂心中美好的样式。

雕琢的过程，时而美好，时而痛苦。但是到了最后，上帝会使我们成为“祂儿子的模样”（罗马书8章29节） 。

你渴望有基督的样式吗？将你自己交给上帝那伟大的雕刻家吧！

天父，祢是雕琢我的雕刻家，
祢知道我生命应有的样式。谢谢祢按照祢的旨意塑造我。
求祢让我相信祢对我的雕琢，是要让我更像祢。

Psalm 138:7-8New International Version (NIV)

7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life.You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes;with your right hand you save me.8 The Lord will vindicate me;your love, Lord, endures forever—do not abandon the works of your hands.

Ephesians 2:6-10New International Version (NIV)

6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

整理：于姊妹