Change isn't change until you change.
Pretty simple right? Right and wrong. You know, change is one of the most feared things in the world. It causes uncertainty and makes people uncomfortable but most times, it also causes GROWTH.
Lately I've been faced with a lot of things I need to change in my life and made me think about how so many people come to me wanting to change things about themselves but it takes them YEARS to finally change. I've been there before and I thank God for the changes he's made in me that have caused me to get out of such cycles.
Transparency moment - So in my prayer time, God really revealed to me that I am self-righteous. Now, this was something I thought I'd got pass in high school when I worked on becoming humble. However, he showed me that way too often I'll be listening to a sermon or reading a book and as I'm reading it I'll be thinking "oh, so-and-so needs to read this" or "hm, whatshisname needs to be here right now" instead of what I should be thinking "wow, this is good, how can I apply this to my life to be more Christ-like" so that's something I'm working on. But you know, that causes a deliberate change in thinking.
I'm sure you all know, your thoughts are one of the hardest things to change, but it's where your freedom begins! If you can change your thoughts, you can truly live life abundantly, as Christ died for us to live! So how do you do that? Dying daily!
I've kind of been meditating on this for a while now (clearly not as much as I should) because I grew up hearing the phrase but not truly understanding what it meant but finally I realized, changing my thoughts, choosing to be intentional in my Christian walk, that's dying daily.
Whenever a negative thought about yourself comes into your head, cast it down and replace it with a scripture! If you're not in that point in your faith yet where you can roll it off the tongue, replace it with something simple and positive, such as "I'm beautiful," or "I'm patient," or "I need to change" (pride.) Even if you don't believe it yet, know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Press into his word, into his presence and be intentional in growing in Christ!
Change isn't change until you change. Saying you want it isn't going to make it happen. So what are you waiting on? CHANGE.
