Change You

Every man's character remains as it is, or continues in the direction in which it is going, until it is compelled by IMPRESSED FORCES to change that state. Our failure has been the failure to put ourselves in the way of the impressed forces. There is a clay, and there is a Potter; we have tried to get the clay to mould the clay.  Henry Drummond

Have you ever wanted to be different?  The key to being different is understanding what needs to change, knowing what can be changed and ensuring that you keep what God created you to be. 

If we want to be like Christ there are things we probably need to change and we are in control of some of those things that need to change.  Here is an example from my personal experience.  I grew up being a people pleaser.  I wanted people to love me and I thought that if I just did everything they asked and kept them happy with me; that would make them love me. 

It took me a long time to understand that I wasn’t doing myself any favors by being a people pleaser and I wasn’t doing the other person any favors either.  Here is what happens.  You agree with everything the other person wants, (even when that something could be harmful to them), and it keeps that person happy but it is harmful to both parties.  It means you are not truthful with the other person or yourself. 

The second thing it does is it puts the other person ahead of God in your life.  God should be my number one focus and guess what.  He loves me already.  I don’t have to win his love, I already have it.  Isn’t that the most beautiful thing you have ever heard?  God loving you because He created you and you don’t have to sacrifice truth for love.

What are the things in your life that need to change and that you have the power to change?  You can’t change who your parents are, you can’t change the talents God gave you and you can’t change some of the things that happen to you in life.  What you can do is identify the areas you can change and then change them.  Speaking from experience, this is not an overnight process so you will need to be prepared for a long journey.  Make God your focus and change will happen.  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, thank You for changing me.  There are days I struggle with changing myself for the better, but the one thing that remains constant is always You.  Thank you for loving me enough to show me where I need to change and then giving me the strength to get through the process.  

  

Scripture: For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.  Galatians 1:10