THE CHRISTIAN IS LIKE A DIAMOND
The difference between a lump of coal and a perfect diamond is simply that although they are both carbon, and although they are both crystal-like in structure, the lump of coal is dark and dirty, while the perfect diamond lets the let shine through. The diamond is carbon that has been crushed and heated under tremendous temperature and pressure to remove any impurities.
The Christian is called to be diamond like. Unlike rocks and stones, we are living stones, called out of the coal black darkness into a wonderful light. And we are being processed from lumps of coal into diamonds. And the living of the Christian life means we leave the old life. And that is pressure as we are called to live as strangers to the world. As we reject the sinful desires that war against our soul. And at times it causes great heat in our lives. Perhaps the heat of shame or guilt or denial. We might say to ourselves about some apparently small sin that it is nothing.