Self-improvement is exhausting.

We try to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. We use willpower, discipline, and shame to force ourselves into being better people. We try to be less angry, more patient, less fearful.

But the Bible offers a different mechanism for change.

"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory..." 2 Corinthians 3:18

We are not transformed by trying. We are transformed by beholding.

It is a passive transformation, like a person getting a tan. You don't "try" to get a tan; you simply position yourself under the sun, and the sun does the work. In the same way, when you position yourself under the Son—when you look at Jesus, His love, and His finished work—you are changed without effort.

You become what you behold.

If you behold your failures, you become more discouraged. If you behold His glory and grace, you become more like Him.

Put down the self-help book and pick up a picture of Jesus.