Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

The single most important transformation that can occur in the life of a human is to be born again. For the old self to pass away, and to be remade into the new. But what happens next? We receive the free gift of grace, and then we spend the rest of our lives growing into the image and likeness of Christ.At least that’s the plan. Whether or not that’s what happens depends on who we surround ourselves with.

More than that, it depends on if we are actively being grown, encouraged, exhorted, and loved in community so that we can in turn minister to the world around us.