Change Yourself First
There is a phrase that tells us that to change the world we first have to change ourselves. This is easier said than done. Over the last few weeks, I’ve talked about our identity and purpose crisis in our culture. There is so much noise out there that it is hard to know what truths have a solid foundation and which do not. I shared how I changed my life by accepting Jesus and the help of the Holy Spirit.
My goal in this week’s post is to share how we can transform into a person who can change the world. It will not be easy. It will not happen overnight. It is a journey of relationship and learning.
In my teens and twenties, I was a very confused person. Maybe being a girl was wrong because of what I liked to do. Girls were not supposed to like and do what I did. This was in the 1980s when we supposedly were climbing out of these stigmas. I had trouble being the only female tech with a bunch of men throughout the late 1980s and 1990s. In one job, the person assigned to teach me the ropes already got bashed on regularly for not being able to beat his wife. This man was no slouch, but they obviously had issues with a woman who was a weightlifting champion. So along comes me who can also weight lift more than the average female and I’m a nerd who sucks up everything, so I sailed through my training module tests with 98 as my lowest score. It felt like high school on a whole different level because now we were all supposed to be adults, but were we?
As stated in prior posts of the last month or so, I spent a lot of time being angry to the point of getting fed up at the age of 33. I’m a logical and organized person despite also being a creative at heart. It took logic I still can’t comprehend completely to make me realize Jesus was the answer and the Bible could truly be the basic instructions before leaving Earth that I needed. I had to stop being that angry woman floundering around trying to fit where I didn’t in order to change the world around me. As the angry woman, I only added chaos and noise to the world. And I was good at it to the point of people expecting me to be a blunt and volatile person until they really got close enough to know me.
Just accepting Jesus did not change everything, but it definitely pivoted me onto a different path to make everyone notice. I learned I needed to have a relationship with Jesus and let the Holy Spirit by my counselor and guide. What does that really mean?
Someone can just say they follow Jesus and show up at church every week, but they aren’t there for Jesus. They are looking for social status and rewards from other humans. They may be nice and greet you, but as you get to know them, you hear them gossiping, complaining, and putting others down. It puts us off. If they never seem concerned about talking and acting this way, this is a good sign they are not in a right relationship with Jesus and aren’t allowing the power of the Holy Spirit to transform them.
Of course, some people acting like the above could be newer to the faith or getting lost because of the older so-called believers not marching right with Jesus. They are still finding the foundational truth they need to sink their roots into so they can flourish as the person they were created to be. You will know them because they will at least apologize if they offend you and work to forgive those that hurt them. After all, King David was considered a man after God’s heart and he still committed murder and adultery that he had to atone for, along with living with the consequences. It’s when he faced the truth of his actions, he knew immediately to go to God and admit his offenses. True believers will do the same, which leads to them to apologize or forgive when offenses occur. This turns into an unfathomable peace and joy for the believer that makes everyone take notice. Those that continue without accepting the wrong they did will not show this peace and joy to the world. They are still hurting by clinging to the offenses they could release to God.
It wasn’t until I let the Holy Spirit be my counselor, as promised by Jesus, that I could transform my thinking. My worldview quickly changed, but it took me time to digest the truth in order to act properly on that view. I still stumble, just like David and other great people of the Bible did. It’s a journey of relationship. As we learn more about who Jesus is, then we learn who God is. We learn who we were meant to be and can take all of our past, learn from it, and then share with others how it all worked out. People can see the difference as a believer dives deeper into a relationship with Jesus.
People saw it in me. Some didn’t believe it would stick because nothing else I tried did. Some stayed away from me entirely. These are people that were once like me having the wrong idea about Jesus. I pray for the people that act like my enemies because of my change and the ones who distanced themselves out of fearing the unknown. Jesus treated everyone with love, even the leaders of God’s knowledge, who had it all wrong, though they got the tough love. He will rebuke us in order to help us gain freedom in Him.
God’s word is transforming only if we let Him help us understand it. I had to read it with an open mind when totally frustrated with everything the world claimed. Then the truths made sense and I could walk with Jesus. Now I have a peace and joy even with all the trials of life. I walk through life with enthusiasm because I know who I’m supposed to be in Christ. I can influence the world with that enthusiasm and encourage others to overcome the lies in order to become their true selves.
I encourage you to give God and His Word a try.
Image by kalhh from Pixabay
Suggested Bible reading:
John 14-16 is full of truths about who Jesus claimed to be and how we would never be left alone in this life.
Romans 12 talks about how to serve God and behave like a Christian. Verse 2 is a popular verse that calls for us to have a transforming of our minds.