Here is a better explanation of my first thought: I've been reconnecting with some old friends. Although we haven't talked for years they seem to be the same. Circumstances in our lives have changed, but their basic personality and their character as a whole isn't necessarily all that different. Who they were becoming years ago is who they have turned out to be; and who they are now reflects who they were in the past.
My second thought was a bit of a disclaimer to the first thought: I don't think that people can't or don't go through radical transformations. The best transformations result from God turning us upside down and inside out for HIS glory. I also believe that there are bad transformations. Everyone will eventually get hit by the junk of life and when that happens we need to actively try to respond how God wants us to respond. If we don't we will often be tainted.
James tells us the best way to react: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1: 2-8
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