Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Romans 12:2 (NLT)
I want to change. I don’t like who I am a lot of the time. Now before you all email me telling me I am being too hard on myself or that I am a perfectionist let me tell you......you’re right! I do strive for perfection, however I fall short of my goals on most occasions because my goals are not grounded in faith and based on God. This year I am trying to change that. I am attempting to stop doing things on my strength and trying to put everything in God’s hands.
I recently started watching the sermons from Saddleback Church which is the home of Pastor Rick Warren. I’ve been watching the church services live via webcast and spending a lot of time working through some of their faith based initiatives like The Daniel Plan which is a comprehensive health plan based on Daniel chapter one. It is a plan based on Scripture and developed by three of the biggest names in healthcare today. I encourage you to check it out at www.daneilplan.com. If anyone wants to take this journey with me just let me know!!
Pastor Rick has outlined 6 Principles for change based on Romans chapter 12 and I share them with you below.
1) Dedication
· Commit my body to God
o I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
Romans 12:1 (NLT)
o A. Cleanse your body!
§ Did you know that you contaminate your body by what you put in your mouth and you contaminate your soul and spirit by what you watch and hear? That’s a sobering statement!
§ Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
2 Corinthians 7:1 (NIV)
·
o B. Care for your body!
§ Keep it in shape.
§ After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church.
Ephesians 5:29 (NIV)
o C. Control your body!
§ Each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable.
§ 1 Thessalonians 4:4 (NIV)
1st law of change: Change is MY choice!!
Any change requires energy that’s why change must start with the body! If I am always tired and lack physical strength and energy then it is going to be extremely hard to change anything.
2) Concentration
· Refocus my mind
o Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2
o Do not conform and let others shape your life or future “ANY LONGER”
o Break habitual patterns and learned behaviors.
2nd law of change: To change my life I must change my model! Who is the absolute best model that we could copy our behavior after? WWJD is not just a silly slogan but something we should ask ourselves before engaging in any decision making.
One important concept to remember is that you have to PUT OFF before you can PUT ON! We have to break the old habits and throw away all the things that hinder our change before we can bring new and beneficial things into our life. It’s like going on a diet without getting the cookies and ice cream out of your house......at the first sign of stress or fatigue you will reach for the bad things instead of the good things. After all, what tastes better when you are feeling blue, rocky road ice cream or a celery stick?? You have to leave the bad things behind and make a conscious decision to put off the old before putting on the new.
Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
Colossians 3:9-10 (NIV)
3) Evaluation
· Humbly assess my current state
o Don't think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.
Romans 12:3 (NLT)
o You need to know where you are before you can find out where you need to be. What are you pretending isn’t a problem in your life, marriage, finances, health? Do you have enough courage to confront yourself? Do you have the “measure of faith” you need to change? Faith comes from spending time in the Word of God!
3rd law of change: I can only manage what I measure!! We must record our progress and know our starting numbers. If you want to join a gym what is the first thing they do? They take your measurements like BMI, weight, and height. This is so they can track any progress that you may make. We must measure our progress. This might be in the form of a daily journal which records your thoughts and feelings. Write down what you feel and how you think God is responding. It’s an amazing thing to look back after a few weeks or months of journaling and see just how clearly God has been working in your life.
4) Cooperation
· Get group support! We can’t go it alone and we weren’t meant to!
o Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
Romans 12:4-5
o We belong to each other!
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:28
4th law of change: Change requires community! Get in a small group of like-minded believers!! If anyone would like to partner up with me on their spiritual journey I would be happy to! Whether you need a prayer partner or just someone to sit down over a cup of coffee with to talk about what God is doing in your life, all you have to do is contact me. Jc85050@yahoo.com
5) Affirmation
· Fill your life with love
o Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection,* and take delight in honoring each other.
Romans 12:9-10
Love. Love is hard for me. I love God and I love my son but the rest of you?? Yeah, that’s gonna be tough for me. I come from an upbringing in which feelings of love were not spoken aloud or shown all that much. It was known that I was loved because of the things people did for me and that was good enough. Because of the way I was brought up I don’t love many people and I don’t know how to show it even if I did. Another reason love is hard for me is because those that I loved betrayed me so greatly. I have a very difficult time letting my guard down because of this. But God has been working on me in this area, first and foremost through my son. I now know what a true, sacrificial, unbiased, love is because of my great love for my son. He doesn’t have to do anything to earn my love. I love him unconditionally, wholly, deeply, and completely even when he pisses me off. I never knew this kind of love before. I never had this kind of love before.....even for my wife!! This new way of living and loving is freeing and I hope to carry it over into other relationships in my life. If you are a family member, a brother or sister in Christ or a good friend of mine and I haven’t told you that I love you lately......don’t worry, some day I will!
6) Motivation
· Nurture our enthusiasm. Our word enthusiasm comes from the Greek meaning “entheos”= in God.
o Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.
Romans 12:11-12
o Keep on praying!! Spend time each day nurturing the motivation to change with the great God who wants nothing more than to see this change take place in your life. When motivation is scarce, pray. When you are feeling tired or run down, pray. When the temptations of the world are bearing down upon you, pray. When patience is thin, pray. Only through constant contact with God will you be able to transcend all those other failed attempts at change in your life and really, truly, fully change!
What do you think? Can we change using these principles? Change takes a lot of effort. Next week we will look at one effective tool for personal change; a daily quiet time with God.
Have a great week and God bless!!
No comments:
Post a Comment