The Transformative Power of Redemption in Christian Fiction

We just finished a two-week remodel of our kitchen which stretched into a six-week remodel of our kitchen. The remodel company kept finding things that were wrong and “really needed to be fixed/replaced,” like the heater/air conditioner (replaced), the ductwork under the house (which is nearly a half-century old and needed help), several water shutoff valves (replaced), wet and degraded wallboard (replaced), the kitchen/dining room floor (replaced), and a number of other little things that added up to too many days without a functional kitchen or laundry area. It was time-consuming, expensive, more than a little frustrating, and none of it was unnecessary, but it’s all done now. And the process reminded me of being human. We have to do maintenance on ourselves, and we tend to break down physically and deteriorate as we get older. Sometimes we even have to have parts repaired or replaced.

We also get worn down spiritually. That’s harder to fix, because human beings do not naturally gravitate toward good things. We naturally do what feels good or gives us pleasure or gains something for us. It’s rare to find a person who lives just for others.

There are some, though. There are doctors and nurses and first responders and a few famous people and others too numerous to name who live for others and not just for their own benefit. They don’t always show up on our radar right away, so we have to look for them.

I met one of those good guys many years ago. He got married, had kids, and now has grandkids, all while having a long career as a missionary to El Salvador. He has been one of the most selfless people I’ve ever known ever since I met him. (He’s also a much better chess player than I am.) He chose to live his life and raise a family in another culture, another climate, another language, another part of the world, so people he’d never met before could hear the good news that Jesus Christ is Lord. If you met him and asked him if he was perfect, he’d laugh and say something like, “No, but I know someone Who is. Let me tell you about Him.”

He’d probably say all that in either Spanish or accented English, too, because that’s where his heart is.

We Christians need to understand that Jesus should be the center of our lives. If we focus our minds and hearts on Jesus, He will remodel our lives to look like Him. It won’t happen overnight or in two weeks or even in six weeks. It’s a life-long process, but in the end – it’s more than worth it.