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Saturday, July 19
thoughts on change, part two
Yesterday, I wrote that transformation is the sidecar to suffering. The Bible backs me up: being crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20) is an ugly way to go, complete with nine-inch spikes and public nakedness.
I also wrote that expecting change to fall on me like a fruit basket from heaven will leave me stuck in the same spot forever, arms open wide, demanding bananas from the sky. To the world, I may look like I’m worshiping, but in reality, I’m just lazy. And hungry.
Change takes work. It takes not only living by the Spirit, but keeping in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:25). For me, it also takes more than one approach — a transformation potion, if you will. I’m nothing if not practical, so I thought I’d tell you some things that are brewing together to help me change this summer:
Repentance. If I truly want to do what’s right, I have to believe what I’m doing now is truly wrong. Sounds easy, but in world that constantly tells me that I am its center and whatever I want is what I should have, it is nothing short of revolutionary.
Prayer. God reaches out His righteous right hand to sustain me (Ps. 18:35), He rises to show me compassion (Is. 30:18). If I could point to one secret — one thing that’s different this time over all the others I've tried to change — it’s that I’ve humbled myself and asked Mike to pray over me every morning.
Plan. My youth pastor told me that once I was sitting in the backseat of a car, it was too late to make godly plans for the evening. I have to make good choices before the choices are there to make.
Focus. One change at a time. There are a lot of things about myself I don’t like, but this is the one God is calling me to work on right now. If He can wait for the others, so can I.
Replacement. There’s more than one reason that I’ve stepped up my blogging frequency in the past few months and ripped my whole house apart to clean it out. Read Christ’s thoughts about replacing your bad habits with good ones in Luke 11:24-26. If you clear the garbage out without filling the room back up with something pretty, the trash will be back, bringing its friends.
I think I’ve got a part three, and maybe a part four, rattling around in my head somewhere, if you can stand it. Tune in next time.
I also wrote that expecting change to fall on me like a fruit basket from heaven will leave me stuck in the same spot forever, arms open wide, demanding bananas from the sky. To the world, I may look like I’m worshiping, but in reality, I’m just lazy. And hungry.
Change takes work. It takes not only living by the Spirit, but keeping in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:25). For me, it also takes more than one approach — a transformation potion, if you will. I’m nothing if not practical, so I thought I’d tell you some things that are brewing together to help me change this summer:
Repentance. If I truly want to do what’s right, I have to believe what I’m doing now is truly wrong. Sounds easy, but in world that constantly tells me that I am its center and whatever I want is what I should have, it is nothing short of revolutionary.
Prayer. God reaches out His righteous right hand to sustain me (Ps. 18:35), He rises to show me compassion (Is. 30:18). If I could point to one secret — one thing that’s different this time over all the others I've tried to change — it’s that I’ve humbled myself and asked Mike to pray over me every morning.
Plan. My youth pastor told me that once I was sitting in the backseat of a car, it was too late to make godly plans for the evening. I have to make good choices before the choices are there to make.
Focus. One change at a time. There are a lot of things about myself I don’t like, but this is the one God is calling me to work on right now. If He can wait for the others, so can I.
Replacement. There’s more than one reason that I’ve stepped up my blogging frequency in the past few months and ripped my whole house apart to clean it out. Read Christ’s thoughts about replacing your bad habits with good ones in Luke 11:24-26. If you clear the garbage out without filling the room back up with something pretty, the trash will be back, bringing its friends.
I think I’ve got a part three, and maybe a part four, rattling around in my head somewhere, if you can stand it. Tune in next time.
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keep it coming this could be an article in a magazine