Conversions Are Painful but Profitable

The conversion after the conversion

Matthew 18:1-4

One of the biggest lies perpetrated among Christians is that conversion is a one-time event. Yes—justification begins the journey, but sanctification continues it, and glorification completes it. God is infinite, and because He is infinite, He is always stretching us—lifting us to new levels of awareness, obedience, humility, and maturity.

Consider the disciples. They approached Jesus asking, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (Matthew 18:1). Like us, they were drawn to ego, position, and power. They assumed Jesus’ kingdom would operate like every other kingdom—ambitious, political, hierarchical, and driven by status.

But Jesus seized the moment to convert them—not to salvation, but to sanctification. He turned their thinking upside down. His kingdom would not be built on dominance but on dependence; not on self-promotion but childlike humility; not on grasping for greatness but on becoming teachable, open, curious, and willing.

This was no small change. Ego dies hard. And like every real spiritual conversion, the change Jesus demanded was painful but profitable.

The Middle of the River

Conversions place you in the middle of the river, where:
    •    you have no control
    •    you are beyond your comfort zone
    •    you must choose whether to change or remain the same

If you’re in these strange waters, don’t panic. God has positioned you there. This is sanctification—where He forces you to look up and live, like Israel standing at the Red Sea with Pharaoh’s army behind them. These moments strip us of our illusions and call us to trust Him exclusively.

We must be lost to be found.
We must lose something to gain something new.
We must be disrupted to be transformed.

The Old Saints Prayed for This

The old saints welcomed these conversions. They knew such moments were:
    •    huge
    •    vast
    •    catalytic
    •    spiritually explosive

Without ongoing conversions, we stay small. We stay proud. We stay legalistic. We stay stuck.

Doctrines and beliefs are essential—but they mainly tell us what to do. They keep us safe, predictable, and sometimes stagnant. But experiences—especially painful ones—make something out of us.

Ask Father Abraham. God placed him right in the middle of Canaan. What looked impossible triggered a radical transformation—from a man shaped by idolatry to the father of the faithful.

External beliefs don’t demand much from us besides security and arguments to defend our position. But experiences?
Experiences take us places we would never go on our own.

⸻

Why Jesus Raised the Child

So when Jesus placed a child in front of His disciples, it wasn’t a sweet illustration—it was an invitation to conversion. A painful but profitable transformation.

To follow Jesus, you must enter the ongoing school of humility.
To grow with Jesus, you must consent to the discomfort of change.
To mature in Jesus, you must welcome the sanctifying river that carries you into God’s deeper life.

Grace to you,
Cedric
Traditionalwriter@yahoo.com