Transformation

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
_Philippians 3:20-21

I've usually read this verse to be a resurrection verse, and it is, but I've been reading it differently. If you compare it with 1 Corinthians 15, you'd likely want to interpret this verse to be talking about the eschatological transformation of our bodies in the final resurrection. But I think if you read the verse in the context of the whole letter (Philippians), you'll notice that the motif is not us being raised in glory but the dominant motif is Christ lowering himself to suffering. Jesus doesn't raise anyone up to his level, so to peak, he comes down to ours and declares our position as his own. He declares us, in our lowly position, right where we are, as glorious. The love of Jesus doesn't change our position, transferring us from a bad place to a good place, it transforms the position itself into a good one. Jesus reaches out and says "yes" to us just as we are. All the things we see in ourselves that we want to hide because we and the world around us see it as pitiful or lowly, God enters them and says "this isn't pitiful, I say it's glorious." We're always trying to pull ourselves out, better ourselves and succeed. Perhaps, for some of us, it's time to see the place where we are, right now, and see it as a glorious one. We don't have to look down on ourselves and say, "sinner." Christ has transformed our sin into glory. He has transformed our pitiful imperfections into beautiful poetry. God says to you, in your struggle and in your self loathing, "you are good, you are a work of art." Christ will, transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body... still bearing the scars of crucifixion, but drenched in life.

So if you've been caught in the pattern of always trying to "better yourself"--always trying to attain some higher status--and believing all the while that there is something wrong with you, be free. Allow your struggle to be transformed into freedom and into the glorious body of Christ. You are accepted exactly as you are.