Have you ever thought about how similar a butterfly's life cycle is to our own spiritual transformation when we become a Christian? We all start with a humble caterpillar, content to mindlessly munch on leaves all day. But when we accept Jesus into our lives, we begin to ask questions, dig into scripture, and find fellowship with other believers. Eventually, it's time to begin a process of transformation into the faithful butterfly we are all meant to become.

Egg & Caterpillar Stage

Butterfly

The adult female butterfly lays her eggs on a leaf. This leaf will serve as a food source to the caterpillar when it first emerges.

Christians

When we first confess our faith in Jesus Christ, we feed on the Word. We try to digest as much as we can to learn more about our Savior and what it means to be a disciple of Christ.

Pupa Stage - Cocoon or Chrysalis

Butterfly

This is the transformation of the caterpillar to a butterfly. Once the caterpillar is full-grown it will stop eating and form into a cocoon, or a chrysalis. When you look at the cocoon, you might think that the caterpillar is just resting but inside it is transforming into a butterfly.

Christians

Sometimes we can wrap ourselves into a cocoon like the butterfly and try to hide from the world. We don’t understand why things are not going right. We’ve read our Bible. We’ve prayed….but we still feel that God either isn’t listening or just not answering. Maybe He is just waiting for us to transform into a beautiful butterfly.

Adult Stage:

Butterfly

For the butterfly to emerge from the cocoon, it has to work to get out of the cocoon. During this process, a chemical is released to strengthen their wings. Their movements inside the chrysalis pump fluid into their wings, which help the wings to expand. If this process is helped along, they are doomed because the butterfly is not able to develop strong wings.

Christians

To me, this is the hardest stage. No one likes a struggle but it's part of building our faith and trust in God. The struggle strengthens us and allows us to spread our wings and fly. If we skip this step, we will never grow in our faith. Just like the butterfly, the struggle is key to our development in faith.

Even after the butterfly spreads its wings and flies, its job on earth is not done. The butterflies job is to mate and then the female lays eggs for the next generation. I was surprised to learn that most butterflies only live two to three weeks.

Just like the butterfly, we are God's beautiful creation. We are called to teach others about Christ (depositing our eggs) and helping them grow in their faith.

Creating the Bible Journaling Page - Romans 12:2

Supplies Needed:

1. Page Protector (cut apart - you only need one sheet)

2. 2 - 8 ½” x 11” black cardstock

3. Wire (about 6”-8”)

4. Paint or Tissue Paper cut into small strips

5. Mod Podge if using Tissue Paper

6. Scissors

7. Xacto Knife

8. Craft Glue

9. Double-sided Tape

10. Butterfly Pattern

11. Life Cycle of a Butterfly Journaling Cards

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Let’s create the Butterfly:

• Using the butterfly pattern, cut out two shapes from the black cardstock.

• Cut a border around the butterfly shape

• Take your page protector and dab small amounts of paint on one side.  Fold in half and then smoosh the paint together and unfold.  Allow this to dry naturally because a heat gun may melt the plastic page protector.

• If you are using tissue paper, cut into small pieces and mod podge onto the page projector.  

• Glue one of the butterfly shapes to the dried page protector

• Turn the page protector over and glue the wire antennae on and then, glue the other black butterfly shape

• Set this aside and allow it to dry before attaching into your Bible.

Finishing the Butterfly Transformation Bible Journaling Page 

1. You can either leave your page natural or add paint, gelatos or watercolor.  I used the same color paints that I used on the butterfly.  I added small dabs of paint at the top of the page and using a credit card, I swiped the paint down to the bottom.  Be sure and clean the paint off of the credit card between each swipe or you may create mud!

2. I used double sided tape in the crease of my Bible and attached the butterfly.  

3. I used my Cricut machine to cut out the word TRANSFORM in vinyl.  I was applying the vinyl word, I made sure and took off some of the adhesive on the transfer paper by pushing it onto my t-shirt.

4. You could print out the word from your computer and trace.

5. Cut out the butterfly transformation cards and add in a stair step fashion to the Bible page with either the double-sided tape or washi. I wrote a prayer on the back of each card.

The life cycle of a butterfly portrays powerful parallels to our own spiritual transformation when we become a Christians. When we accept Jesus into our lives, our transformation begins with inquisitiveness, an exploration into scripture, and connecting with other believers. In the end, we come out of our spiritual transformation as a beautiful and faithful butterfly meant to spread the good news of Jesus Christ.

While the butterfly’s transformation may be brief, our transformation continues while we live in the world, so we must strive each day to become more and more like Jesus.

So spread your wings, soar to new heights and remember the struggle will bring perseverance and a deeper relationship with our Lord and Savior.