When I was a teenager, my dad and I talked about restoring an old car together. It was going to be a circa mid-1960s Ford Mustang, and I was going to paint it powder blue with metallic flecks. For one reason or another, we never got around to doing the project, but I’ve always thought it would have been cool. I used to change my own oil, and I can replace a flat tire in record time, so restoring a car sounded like a fun challenge. (Besides, I had a tomboyish stubborn streak and wanted to prove to my guy friends that a girl is quite capable of doing such things, thankyouverymuch.)

Restoration is not a simple undertaking. A project like that would take specialized tools and numerous trips to the parts store and junk yard. It would take initiative to begin and commitment to see the project through to completion. It would involve time, effort, sweat, money, broken fingernails and lots of grease. In short, it isn’t a casual, weekend fixer-upper kind of project … and neither is restoration of a different sort.

When we think about the changes that have taken place (and still need to take place, if we’re honest) in our lives after getting to know Jesus, I don’t think “overhaul” is too radical of a term to use. Christ has wrenched out the rusty, broken, irreparable parts of our sin-riddled hearts and restored us anew. He has transformed us from feeling like junkyard scrap to knowing that we are his prized treasures.

In his closing remarks to the church in Corinth, Paul advises the Christians there to “aim for restoration” in their dealings with one another (2 Corinthians 13:11a, ESV). Another translation says to “keep things in good repair” (MSG). As we do life together as a church family, we would do well to remember to keep our relationships in good repair and strive to restore them when they need fixing. It is through this deliberate act of unity that we will positively impact the world around us (John 13:35, 17:23).