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Changed from the inside out

 

 

Have you ever heard someone say, “That’s just the way I am”, as if that justifies their unacceptable behavior? Perhaps it’s a phrase you use yourself, “That’s the way I am, take it or leave it.” I understand the world using this phrase. There’s almost a sense of pride in it, a sense of self-acceptance. But the Gospel doesn’t leave much room for this way of thinking. The Gospel is all about change.

A willingness to change says a lot about a person’s character. How willing are we to change and make adjustments? Are you stuck in a traditional mindset of doing things? Or do you give the Word of God access to change your life?

Many of us try to change ourselves. How many diets have you tried with low levels of success and even lower levels of sustainability? Changes that come from the outside in are unlikely to last. But when the Word of God changes us, it’s from the inside out.

When we allow the Word of God to change us, it enables us and it empowers us and it changes those around us. We don’t need to convince people about the love of God so much as we need to show it to them. We need to be the change. We need to show Jesus through the way we live and the way we treat others and that’s not something we can simply manufacture. It’s something that happens by His Word and by time spent with Him. Conversations with Jesus will turn our lives upside down and we will not be the same.

The Word of God calls us to be changed. In Romans 2 we’re called to be transformed by the renewing of our minds and to seek God’s will before our own. This has to be the way of life for the believer. It’s not okay to just be saved – sitting around with your fire insurance secured.

What is it we are bringing into the lives of others? Baggage? Unforgiveness? If that’s the case, we must be changed. We must be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

When we are making our minds new by God’s plan and not our plan, seeking His will for our lives, that’s when we are changed. The biggest thing between where we are and where we want to be is a decision. It’s choosing the will of God by presenting all of ourselves as a living sacrifice to Him our spirit, soul, body and finances. When our will comes second to His, that’s when we’re changed from the inside out.

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