Change Requires Making Hard Choices Then Acting

In summary of Ephesians 4:21-24 it says,

“Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God — truly righteous and holy.”

Bottom Line:

Since you have heard and learned the truth that comes from Jesus, throw of your old sinful ways of doing things, which was corrupted by lust and deception.  Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and ways of thinking.  Put on a new nature and let God reproduce his character in you.

What this means to me:

As I follow Christ daily I learn more and more of the truth he reveals.  This has helped me throw off some of my old ways which were corrupted by the world’s views and my own selfish desires.  I am now learning to let the Holy Spirit renew my thoughts and ways of thinking.  Daily I try to clothe myself with this new nature and let God reproduce in me his character.  What I find is that It’s not enough to just want to change. It’s not enough to desire or even say, “I have a dream of changing.”  Dreams are worthless unless I wake up and actually act on them. I won’t change the defects in my life until I choose and act on change.  If I want to permanently change It won’t happen automatically. I’m not  just going to get healthier by accident.  Often my tendency is to think that I’m waiting on God to change me.  What I need to realize is that I’m not waiting on God, rather God is waiting on me.  There will be no growth in my life without change. And there is no change without loss. This means that I’ve got to let go of some old stuff. And there is no loss without pain.  It doesn’t really matter where my old ways came from. I simply need to deal with them.  The good news is that I’m a believer, and because of this I have a new power in me that is greater than my old tendencies. That power is the Holy Spirit.  The only thing I have to be afraid of is missing God’s best and wasting my life never really understanding God’s purpose for me.  The secret to changing my life won’t be with willpower on my own. It will be by God giving me the will and the power through the Holy Spirit to do what needs to be done.