When Being With God Changes You
Exodus 34:29-35
Have you ever wondered whether people can actually see a difference in your life because you are walking with God?
We can spend time praying, reading the Bible, worshipping, and speaking about spiritual things. But there is a deeper question I need to ask myself:
Is my life being changed by the God I am spending time with?
Exodus 34 gives us a beautiful picture of this.
Moses Came Down From the Presence of God
Moses had been on Mount Sinai with God. God had renewed His covenant with Israel and had written His words on the stone tablets.
Now Moses came down from the mountain with those tablets in his hands.
But something else had changed.
“When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.”
– Exodus 34:29 ESV
Moses did not come down trying to make people notice him. He apparently did not even realize that his face was shining.
But the people noticed. Something had happened to Moses because he had been with God, and it became visible.
That really challenged me.
What happens to me when I spend time with God?
True Spirituality Does Not Need Self-Projection
Moses did not have to announce, “Look at me. I have been with God.”
The people saw the change themselves.
This makes me examine my own heart. There is nothing wrong with sharing what God is doing when there is a genuine reason or when it encourages others. But there is a difference between sharing God’s work and projecting ourselves as spiritual.
Jesus warned against practicing righteousness simply to be seen by others. (Matthew 6:1)
True spirituality should make me more humble, not more impressed with myself.
If I constantly want people to know how much I pray, fast, study the Bible, or spend time with God, I need to ask:
Am I pointing people to God, or am I trying to make myself look spiritual?
Moses’ face was shining, but Moses was not the source of the glory.
What Should God’s Presence Produce in Me?
The Holy Spirit is the One who transforms us. But when we genuinely walk with God, His Word and Spirit should increasingly produce change in our character.
We should become more humble, more obedient, more sensitive to sin, more loving, more willing to forgive, and more like Christ.
The evidence of our walk with God should not simply be how much spiritual activity we can talk about.
It should increasingly be seen in who we are becoming.
If I spend time in prayer and God’s Word but remain unwilling to repent, forgive, obey, or change when God corrects me, I need to seriously examine my walk with Him.
The answer is not simply that I need to spend more hours praying. The question is whether I am allowing the Holy Spirit to work through what God is showing me.
The Glory of the Old Covenant
Paul gives us a deeper understanding of Moses’ shining face in 2 Corinthians 3.
The glory associated with the old covenant was real. Moses’ face actually shone after being in God’s presence. But Paul explains that the glory of the new covenant is greater.
The old covenant was associated with the law written on tablets of stone. The new covenant is the ministry of the Spirit.
Paul says:
“For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.”
– 2 Corinthians 3:11 ESV
Then he brings this directly to believers:
“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
Moses’ face reflected the glory he encountered in God’s presence.
But under the new covenant, through the work of the Holy Spirit, we are being transformed into the image of Christ.
The goal is not simply that people see that I have had an experience with God.
The goal is that people increasingly see Christ in the way I live.
Can People See That I Have Been With Jesus?
This reminds me of Peter and John. When they stood before the authorities, Acts 4:13 says that the authorities recognized that they had been with Jesus.
What an amazing testimony.
They did not need to introduce themselves as spiritual men. Something about their lives revealed where they had been.
Stephen gives us another powerful example. As people were killing him, he prayed:
“Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”
– Acts 7:60 ESV
That response reflected the heart of Christ.
This is the kind of transformation I want in my own life.
When someone hurts me, can they see Christ?
When I am corrected, can they see Christ?
When I am treated unfairly, can they see Christ?
When I have an opportunity to forgive, can they see Christ?
When nobody is watching, can they see Christ?
He Must Increase, I Must Decrease
John the Baptist said:
“He must increase, but I must decrease.”
– John 3:30 ESV
I think this captures something essential about true spirituality.
As Christ increases in my life, my desire for self-exaltation should decrease. My need to be noticed, my pride, and my desire to prove myself should decrease.
At the same time, love, humility, obedience, forgiveness, and faithfulness should increase.
Christ should become more visible in me.
What Is My Life Showing?
Moses came down from the mountain carrying God’s Word, and his encounter with God had changed him.
That challenges me today.
I can read the Bible without allowing it to correct me. I can pray without surrendering my will. I can worship without changing my character. I can talk about Christ without becoming more like Christ.
But the Holy Spirit is doing something deeper in us. He is progressively transforming us into the image of Christ.
So I want to ask myself honestly:
When I come away from prayer and God’s Word, what is different about me?
Not perfection. Not pretending. But a genuine, growing transformation.
Because the purpose of spending time with God is not to build a reputation for being spiritual. It is to become more like Christ.
Perhaps the greatest testimony is not that I can tell people how much time I spend with God, but that after spending time with Him, His character becomes increasingly visible in me.
Lord, thank You for allowing me to come into Your presence through Christ. Thank You for Your Word and for the work of the Holy Spirit in my life.
Search my heart and show me where I am still holding on to pride, selfishness, bitterness, disobedience, or the desire to be noticed.
I do not want to merely look spiritual. I want to be genuinely transformed.
As I read Your Word, help me to obey it. As I pray, help me to surrender my will. As Your Spirit works in me, make me more humble, loving, forgiving, obedient, and more like Christ.
Let my life point people to You rather than to myself.
May Christ increase and may I decrease.
And when people see my life, may they see something of the character of Jesus.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Hineni