Change II
Truth brings about the conviction necessary for change. You will never change until you are willing to confront the truths about your life. Amidst the mind of a stubborn person is an unwillingness to hear/accept truths about their lives. Repentance is in essence change that follows a confrontation with truth; no better confrontation is achieved besides the Holy Spirit which is God’s spirit of truth (John 16:13). We need not wait for a “white dove” to speak because He speaks many/oft times through people.
Change takes courage because there has to be a courage to reject what is for what needs to be; it requires decision making and courage is needed to be decisive. Courage is the ability to face struggles and hardships with confidence; change requires courage because you need to be confident in the outcome of that change. All change begins with a decision. You are not going to change until you decide to; things are the way they are in your life because you have not decided against them.
You need to decide on a better job, health, physique, relationship and future. Energy becomes available when decisions are made; through some lenses, we can call this energy, grace. Grace is made available following a decision and not in the reverse order.
Once you make the decision, you must follow up with dedication. Every decision is tested with dedication which is qualified often by discipline. Decision is a by-product of vision which happens at the pivot point of decision on the change journey. Here are the steps summarized below:
Embrace the truth that change is the essence of maturity/growth; a necessity for life
Embrace the truths about your life and current state
Make a decision to change; this is a pivot point for a renewed vision (known as repentance)
Be dedicated to the change/renewed vision
Be disciplined to the cause of the change/renewed vision
As you begin to embrace change as a necessary positive event in your life, evaluate your life to examine which areas need change and then take the courage to follow through. Remember that false security can be the enemy of change just as good is the enemy of best. In Luke 5 Jesus taught that we never qualify for better wine if we are not willing to change our old vessels; He also said that we will never enjoy the better wine if we continually develop a false security in the old tasting wine.
You will never embrace the new until you pass judgment on the old…get judging!
