Change: Love It or Hate It?

Change is all around us.  The seasons change.  People grow older and change.  Some change noticeably from day to day.  Some lose a few more hairs while others find a few new gray ones.  Some find a new wrinkle added to their faces while others notice a few pounds added to their bodies.  Modern technology allows people to change the color of their eyes merely by changing contacts.  Local tattoo and piercing parlors have obviously kept busy changing the appearance of so many people. 
 
I, on the other hand, do not change.  I have the same hairstyle I have had since I began combing my own hair.  The color has grayed a bit, though.  I have held onto my ties long enough that they have come back into style.  I could live in my house for 40 years without re-positioning rooms.  I have stayed here for 34 years without wanting to make a change.
 
We are, though, in the process of change.  We are in the process of experiencing another change of seasons.  At the same time, many of us are experiencing changes in other phases of our lives.  Some are experiencing change in their careers.  Others are experiencing changes in their families as they look forward to an addition while others have lost a member of theirs.
 
Change is both easy and difficult.  Change for some people is no big deal.  Change for others is a very big deal.  Change disrupts our comfort zone.  Change challenges our patience.  Change often forces its way upon us without our consent, making us nervous and fearful.
 
Change is, though, the key to the life that God asks of us.  No one is what God expects by his own natural goodness.  God calls us to change to be like Him.  It is a radical change that makes an entirely new person out of the old one. It is a change that requires us to eliminate bad habits and lifestyle practices.  It is necessary, but it is hard.
 
The necessary ingredients for such change include:  time, effort, patience (on the part of both the changer and those wanting the change to occur).  The Hebrew writer alluded to all of these in Hebrews 5:12, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers…”  Over time and with effort, Christians should get to the point that they can teach themselves.
 
Paul explained this change in Ephesians 4:22-24 when he said that one is to “put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”  Change is often difficult and challenging.  When it concerns one’s soul, it is an absolute must!  Without change, no one can enter God’s eternal home!

— Mike Johnson