{"id":7731,"date":"2015-12-14T07:00:39","date_gmt":"2015-12-14T12:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=7731"},"modified":"2015-12-11T06:26:07","modified_gmt":"2015-12-11T11:26:07","slug":"the-spiritual-road-to-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/12\/the-spiritual-road-to-change.html","title":{"rendered":"The Spiritual Road To Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ID-100207202-2\"<\/a>We all have things in our lives we want to change. Maybe we don’t like the way we treat our neighbor, the prejudices we hold\u00a0in our heart, or maybe we struggle to be free from addiction.\u00a0Perhaps we\u00a0want to stop an annoying habit, be less self-centered, or take better care of our body. Whatever the desire, change doesn’t come easily and often doesn’t stick.<\/p>\n

One reason for this is that we try to change by subtracting something from our lives. For example, I’ll eat less and lose weight. I’ll remove the temptation in order to be less tempted. I’ll avoid the bar so as not to drink. I’ll make myself be nicer to that difficult person. This strategy may work for awhile, but then we find ourselves relapsing into old patterns.<\/p>\n

The reason is that this type of change effort comes from the outside. We stop something in order to be “better.”<\/p>\n

But 2\u00a0Corinthians 3:18 gives us insight into how real change occurs. \u00a0“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate\u00a0the Lord\u2019s glory,\u00a0are being transformed into his image\u00a0with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”<\/p>\n

The\u00a0how to real change is in the who!<\/strong> Change that is transformative does not come by subtracting something from our lives. It doesn’t come by willing ourselves to be different. It doesn’t come by doing good things, even Christian things.<\/p>\n

Real change comes from being with Christ\u00a0and allowing Him to\u00a0transform us by his grace. We can’t rip out the\u00a0idols in our\u00a0lives. They are rooted in sin. Only God can effectively deal with sin.<\/p>\n

So if we really want to change, we must allow the person of Christ to transform us in His image every day. We do this by spending time in His presence.\u00a0There we are changed. The how is in the who!<\/p>\n

Yes, we can see counselors for help. We can put\u00a0accountability in our lives, work on negative thinking and patterns of behavior. But ultimately, God must do a work in our hearts. No political, governmental or program solution will bring about true change because it is an external solution to an internal problem. If you want to see\u00a0make change, sit with the One who transforms and changes hearts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We all have things in our lives we want to change. Maybe we don’t like the way we treat our neighbor, the prejudices we hold\u00a0in our heart, or maybe we struggle to be free from addiction.\u00a0Perhaps we\u00a0want to stop an annoying habit, be less self-centered, or take better care of our body. Whatever the desire,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[916],"tags":[978,15,861],"class_list":["post-7731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-god-relationship","tag-addictions","tag-change","tag-habits"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Spiritual Road To Change<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/12\/the-spiritual-road-to-change.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Spiritual Road To Change\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We all have things in our lives we want to change. Maybe we don’t like the way we treat our neighbor, the prejudices we hold\u00a0in our heart, or maybe we struggle to be free from addiction.\u00a0Perhaps we\u00a0want to stop an annoying habit, be less self-centered, or take better care of our body. 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Maybe we don’t like the way we treat our neighbor, the prejudices we hold\u00a0in our heart, or maybe we struggle to be free from addiction.\u00a0Perhaps we\u00a0want to stop an annoying habit, be less self-centered, or take better care of our body. 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