Resources/Articles
The Thought of Change: How? Why?
Did you make any resolve to change your spiritual condition earlier this year? It depends on how bad you want to change. It depends on whether or not you believe others need to change. All these factors and more indicate whether a spiritual change in you will take place. O yes, we will say we need to do better. We all tell ourselves we need to study and pray more. We even discuss our need to eliminate some things from our lives before we can even think of changing.
Going to the self-help section in any bookstore indicates how desperate people are to “remodel” their lives. Although the prospect of change captivates people, some hold to the idea that it is impossible for them. “At my age or at this point in life, no one should expect any more from me or of me. I don’t, so why should someone else?”
People tell themselves, “Whatever I am is what I’ll always be.” Our culture has also resigned to that same attitude by labeling people with a host of phobias, syndromes, compulsions, and disorders. This is not so with Christ (Ephesians 4.20).
In 1 Corinthians 6.9-11, the apostle Paul listed a group of sins common among them and very characteristic of our society. He said, “And such were some of you” (v. 11). These are people who actually changed not just their attitudes, but their behavior. The “newness” is made possible through Jesus Christ. Romans 6.3-4 says, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Jesus does not label what you have as a syndrome or disorder. He labels it as sin which He and only He can remove, changing you from an “old man” into a “new man.” Ephesians 4.24 says it is a “new man, that after God hath created in righteousness and holiness of truth.”
What Jesus Christ offers the groaning soul who wants a “better life” is not superficial pain relief or dependence on months of therapeutic medicine. It is radical surgery of the heart. It is not a quick fix. It is a lifelong endeavor. It begins with a love for Him above everything else (Matthew 22.37). Today is a good day to start this “remodeling project” (2 Corinthians 6.2).
