Is real change possible? This is a question we get a lot in one form or another.
Once a sex addict, always a sex addict, right? He cheated on me, will my husband ever really be trustworthy? Can homosexual men and women really change? I’ve wrestled with __________ for so long, is there any hope for me?
Another way of asking these same questions is Can people change fundamentally or is the best they can hope for to just fight their true nature the rest of their lives?
I love this question. I love it because most people asking are really trying hard. And I love it because through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, He’s given us the answer: Unequivocally yes.
“If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).
God is always about the business of bringing life change to those who come to Him needing it.
But the order in which He’s changing things in our lives might not be the order we want. His priorities may be different than ours.
I want to stop sinning sexually. He might be more concerned with your pride.
I want my sexual orientation to change. Could it be He’s yearning first for you to experience your identity as His beloved son or daughter?
I want freedom from temptation. Perhaps right now He’s teaching you how to fight…and wanting to show you the valiant warrior He’s made you to be.
Where we see ourselves one-dimensionally, like a puzzle waiting to be pieced together, we’re more like a Rubik’s Cube–multi-dimensional and complex. Sometimes the sides that look most together need to be undone so the whole can be put right. We’re in need of someone who loves us in the process, someone skilled and patient to wholly restore us.
Is change possible? Without a doubt. Keep asking Him for it.
But maybe a bigger question is are you willing to trust His priorities for bringing change to your life?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPvxdVDPMbs[/youtube]
Join the discussion! What makes it so difficult to believe real change is possible? Why does what we believe about change matter? Do you have examples of how God’s priorities for change in your life were different than you would have expected?
Colorfully,
Josh
Wow. What a great and encouraging message. I believe it.
Josh,
I am once again touched by the way God speaks through you. Thank yo for this encouragement to a 69 year old lady who has tried so many times to change and overcome.
Blessings,
Pat
I think you make excellent points that the ways
WE most want to change might not be God’s highest priority for us
right now.
One of my greatest comforts is my identity as one who is “in Christ”
as the resurrected savior. Not only *can* I change, but I *have* been
changed as one who participated with Christ in His death and
resurrection. I now walk in newness of life.
Of course, here on this earth, it doesn’t always feel like I have been
changed. That is because my life is hid with Christ in God and I am
waiting for Christ (who is my life) to appear so that I too can appear
with Him in glory (Colossians 3)!
Thanks for this great reminder that, through Christ, we already have been changed. The words in 2 Corinthians 5, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” are true for us today!