Change requires making choices. It's not enough to dream of changing. It's not enough to desire change. In order for us to change, we will need to make a decision. We must choose to change.
Change is intentional. Are we going to be any different in six months? Are we going to be better a year from now? Are we going to be healthier, stronger, and more mature? Are we going to be happier? Are we going to be more like God wants us to be?
It will only happen if we choose to change, because it isn't going to happen accidentally.
It requires a choice.
A lot of times we think we're waiting on God to change us. No! God is waiting on us. He's waiting on us to say, “Yes, Lord, I'm willing to make these changes."
We have to make intentional choices in order to grow. There is no growth without change, there is no change without loss, and there is no loss without pain. If we are going to grow, we will have to change, and change means we let go of some old things in order to grab hold of some new things.
Some of us are stuck in the middle, and we’re going down because we haven't let go of the old patterns, the old habits, and the old ways of thinking. We have to let go of our old ways.
The Bible says, “Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life ….” (Ephesians 4:22a NLT)
In other words, let it go. Those old habits, those old hurts, those old patterns, those old sins in our life let them go. The Bible says to throw them off and trust that God is working in us “to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13b NIV).
“to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
Ephesians 4:22-32 ESV
“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.”
Philippians 2:9-16 ESV
