In fashion today with our modern society is the modern plethora of self-help books on changing whatever attribute one wants to change. Probably more frequent, and more popular for a long time is our need to point out other people’s negative traits and attempt to impose our own. It is all for their own good, of course.
Yet, the greater virtue lies within us to attempt to change our self to a more palliative person for others. The idea itself seems easy enough. We discover whatever character defect there is, change it from a negative to a positive.
Still believed by many and postulated in the seventies in the absence of any real science is that any habit either good or bad can be broken in a mere 21 days. Naturally anyone that has lived long enough know some people change bad habits overnight. Some quite the opposite, go from positive to negative.
In fact, some people believe that people never change at all and if there is any change-it is for the worse. I think most people believe the bad in a heartbeat and never hold their breath to learn of the bad.
To the contrary of most belief systems, I maintain that the greatest prize of change is that of a positive one in character. The position of character is not a psychological one though, it is one that merits a spiritual transformation. Any real character change comes about as they encounter Christ for we are told that one must be born again in order to be received in the Kingdom of Heaven.
This transformation of the mind, or the renewing of our mind via the spirit is a process that is accomplished through the power of the Holy Spirit.
How then does one accomplish this? Whereas belief on the Lord Jesus is a requirement, the change is a direct result of a free gift of God’s spirit even to our salvation.
Change then, a spiritual change is a consequent of either sin or grace. Grace is a free gift of Jesus that transform our very soul.
Thus, wishing change for others is at times, noble. Desiring change for our self can be a virtue. But any real meaningful change is a result of engaging our spirit with Christ.
At any time, we might look at our self in the mirror and not like what we see. We can only come to our full value through the blessing of Christ as he counts us not guilty to sin. In that way we are made unto righteousness through Christ: and by that virtue we are made blameless and acceptable unto our creator. Once all that occurs, we become not so quickly to impose change on others or even upon our self. We come to a point where we finally accept our self for who we are in Christ.
Hard Times Ministries 