Metamorphosis

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. - 2 Corinthians 3:18

The original word translated into “change” in this passage is the Greek word, metamorphoō, which is the root from which we got the word Metamorphosis. This is a process by which animals undergo extreme, rapid physical changes sometime after birth. It is the process by which a grubby caterpillar is transformed into an astonishingly beautiful butterfly. It is almost like being transfigured from one kind of insect (an ugly creeping one) into an entirely new species (a beautiful, graceful flying one). This change is not a cosmetic one, but a genetic one; the caterpillar does not put on wings to become a butterfly, rather, certain genes are activated within the caterpillar that turns it into the new being called the butterfly. Similarly, God is not pursuing a cosmetic change in your life. He’s not trying to give you a facelift or a new coat of paint. He wants you to morph into a new and better you. Don’t stay stuck in your old form.