Good and also becoming good

How can Christians be both already good, and becoming good?  Here are two verses that lay this out for us:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17)   (Here, there’s a sense of finality. Our goodness is a settled fact.)

But Scripture also show us the ever-increasing process of becoming good …

“ For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge...and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1: 4-8)

(In this verse, we have a sense of Christ’s character developing in us with growing measure, over time.)

As I learn to live from my new and supernaturally-good heart, I mature in the goodness that God has already given me. That goodness may be as yet not expressed, but nevertheless still present in me. Discipleship is the process by which I enjoy and continue to express an already-present holiness and wholeness within me.

Do I like the guy I'm following?

I was asking God today what he wanted for me this year - the focus or emphasis of the next 12 months.  What came to mind unnerves me a bit:  The desire that surfaced was,

"I want to know you more so that I can like you." 

I wish I was farther ahead in my journey of more than four decades, that I didn't need to ask God to help me like him more.  So often we Christians have been pressured to love him with all our hearts, minds, bodies and souls; yet fail to ask if we even like the guy we're following.  Would I be drawn to him; find myself eager to get some face-time with him?

As I processed this with Jesus, I didn't feel any scorn or guilt from him.  Rather, I felt understanding:  "I know you want to like me more; but your mental image of me has been so colored by poor teaching and false assumptions.  I'm not mad at you for this."

So I'm praying, "I want to like you Jesus.  Let's strip away all imagery and conviction that has misrepresented your true heart."