One Degree (of Change) at a Time

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. (2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV)

If you’ve ever had to lose a significant amount of weight, like I had to after having our baby last spring, it’s nothing short of daunting at the outset.

Forty-five pounds? How will I ever lose forty-five pounds?

Well, I think we all know: one pound at a time.

And while technically this is true, it’s not the most encouraging piece of news when you’re on the far side of whatever number you’re hoping to move on the scale.

At different times, over the course of the last year and change that it’s taken me to get this weight off, these are some of the thoughts I’ve wrestled with: This is going to take forever. Maybe I’m not trying hard enough. How much longer is this going to take?

And these are the words I’ve had to repeat to myself over and over:

This is going to take forever. Well, it took a long time to gain the weight too.

Maybe I’m not trying hard enough. You can control only so much. Just keep doing what you know is good for you.

How much longer is this going to take? I’m not sure. But making healthy choices can only help. So just keep doing what you know is good for you, and don’t give up.

Besides reframing my self-talk, the other key strategy that’s helped me stay on mission was to make my goal smaller. Instead of forty-five pounds, I started thinking in terms of ten or at most twelve. Once I hit that goal, I thought, I’ll reset to a new one.

This meant I had milestones to celebrate along the way. I wasn’t constantly behind; I was getting there . . . little by little.

Degrees of Glory

This zinnia has been one of the last of my March seeds to bloom, but little by little, it finally found its moment.

In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth, explaining their role under the new covenant. No longer were God-followers dependent on someone like Moses to do their “God work” for them. Now, because of Christ, every God-follower—man, woman, Jew, Greek (see Galatians 3:28)—can approach the throne. The Lord removed the veil, and in so doing, we not only have God-access but access to God’s glory.

In other words, because we can “turn to the Lord” ourselves (see 1 Corinthians 3:16), we have the chance of being transformed by His presence into the image of His glory. And in the key verse we’re highlighting today, it’s important to realize this transformation isn’t happening overnight. Not in a flash. Not in a moment.

We are being transformed one degree of glory at a time.

Degrees of Change

Okay, so what does any of this have to do with creation care? How does this relate to our charge of stewarding God’s Earth?

I don’t know about you, but for a long time, I’ve prayed about the environment, about the melting glaciers, about the accelerating storms. I’ve prayed, but still, I’ve felt like a helpless bystander. I don’t know what to do. I don’t see how to help. The problem has seemed so big and multilayered—I mean, it is—so I prayed and left it at that. I prayed, and then I gave up.

This is going to take forever. Well, it took a long a while to create these problems too.

Maybe I’m not trying hard enough. You control only so much. Just keep doing what you know is good.

How much longer is this going to take? I’m not sure. But making good choices can only help. So just keep doing what you know is good, and don’t give up.

Maybe it’s time for you, like me, to reframe your self-talk when it comes to creation. The problems are widespread; the conditions our planet and its inhabitants are facing are serious, complex, and debilitating. Rising global temperatures. Increasing severity of storms. Habitat loss. Food loss. Lack of water. Lack of clean air.

A staggering 8.1 million deaths occurred globally because of air pollution in 2021. Some 700,000 of those deaths were children under the age of five.[i]

And yet.

If we pray and give up, not one change will be made to undo this damage. If we pray and give up, not one life has a chance of being saved.

How will we ever overcome the damage we’ve created? Well, I think we all know: one change, one day, one better choice at a time.

Years of Moments

Just as God isn’t remaking us into the image of His glory overnight, the world won’t be rebuilt in a moment. It will take a series of moments—years of moments—to undo the damage we’ve caused to the ozone, to lower CO2 levels, to replant desecrated forests.

But change is possible. Already scientists are observing signs of healing in the ozone over the Antarctic![ii]

So take heart: you can only control so much, but you can control your choices. One degree of change at a time, make choices that heal, that help, that provide hope. God’s world is worth protecting. God’s creatures are worth defending. Just keep doing what you know is good, pray for guidance when you don’t know what that is, and above all, don’t give up. 💛

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[i] “Report: Air Pollution Now No. 2 Killer of Children Under 5,” UNICEF USA, accessed June 7, 2025, https://www.unicefusa.org/media-hub/reports/UNICEF-Air-Pollution.

[ii] Jennifer Chu, “Scientists Observe First Signs of Healing in the Antarctic Ozone Layer,” MIT News, June 30, 2016, https://news.mit.edu/2016/signs-healing-antarctic-ozone-layer-0630.