It’s the beginning of the year and that means that most of us are thinking about change. And don’t we simply love it? Isn’t it the easiest thing in the world to look inside ourselves and see the work needing to be done? Yes, that’s a heavy dose of sarcasm you hear.
I am not a big fan of change. Not even going to try to pretend differently. It takes me too long to wrap my brain around something new, and by the time I have it’s time to change all over again. And, let’s just be honest, change is hard. I don’t always like doing ‘hard’. It cramps my style and requires me to give up things sometimes I simply don’t want to give up. Oh, I may desire to change, but then this other part of me starts talking and telling me things are just fine the way they are, I don't really need to do anything different, what's reaaaallly wrong with the way I am...Yep, that’d be my flesh talking. I so get Paul. (Check him out in Romans 7 there towards the end. That's me.)
But as the years go along, I realize if I’m not changing, I’m not growing, and if I’m not growing, well then, we’ve got a problem.
See, God didn’t put us here to stay the same. If He had, we’d all still be in diapers. And wouldn’t that make the world a most interesting place? Unfortunately, all too often we stay as infants in our faith.
But God wants us to grow. I love this verse from 1 Peter 2:2--Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted the Lord is good.
What steps are you taking to grow? Maybe it’s finding a church home so that you have accountability and are being fed. Maybe it’s adding a Bible Study in to give you some meat to chew on. Maybe it’s becoming a leader within your church and beginning to feed others. Could be a mission trip. A neighborhood Bible study. Praying with your family. Or simply picking up your Bible on a daily basis and reading a chapter.
Whatever it is, this year take on one new thing.
And grow.
I'm always in a bible study of some kind, and trying to learn--to dig into the meat of the Word. I don't necessarily love change, but it can be fun at times and growing is something I always want to do!! :)
ReplyDeleteJess - I love Bible study's,too. I can be a bit of a junkie about them:) But when God starts stripping things down to the nitty-gritty, oh do I sometimes cling to the wrong things. I'm learning to love change, not sure it will ever be a part of my personality, but looking back, I do love the growth He's brought about in me.
ReplyDeleteHi Susan,
ReplyDeleteMy big changes this year revolving around my writing will be to seriously try to attend ACFW conference. I'm comfortable as a wall flower, and this will throw me out of my comfort zone. And I want to have one of my stories ready and try to meet with an agent. Seriously, I like writing stories, this will be a big change and hurdle for me. I've never traveled alone on a big adventure like this without my husband, so that's another change.
So we'll se how I weather these changes.
(By the way, I'm able to move better today than Sunday. Thankfully I have muscle relaxers for TMJ or I don't think I'd have survived yesterday. Thanks for your prayers!
Jackie
Change is tough. You're right, it's hard to get out of the comfort zone. I need to commit to praying with my family on a daily basis, at least on the days when my husband is home in the evenings. Thanks for the reminder. I'm setting the alarm on my phone. :-)
ReplyDeleteJackie - I like to blend in with the wallpaper too! And I'm still planning on Hubby attending conference with me--not sure he knows that though! God loves to pull us from our comfort zones, doesn't He?
ReplyDeleteGwen - that's one I want to work on, too. I pray each morning in my quiet time, but I also want to have family prayer time. Why does that seem so hard to do? I like the idea of setting an alarm!
Love what you've said here, Susan!
ReplyDeleteI don't like change either, for the most part. When it comes to my relationship with Christ though, I am ready for a change - a deeper commitment and a deeper intimacy. I think it's been on "simmer," and it's time to bring it up to a "boil." ;-)
Another thing I'd like to change is being more intentional with devotional/prayer time with my kids.
Looking forward to what God has in store for all of us as we grow and change . . . for the better. : )
I forgot to mention, I'm also starting the Good Morning Girls Ephesians Bible study next week. http://www.goodmorninggirls.org/2012/01/winter-2012-ephesians-downloadable-documents/
ReplyDeleteAlso, "officially" following your blog (thought I had already done that, lol). :D
Hey Michelle! I'm at that point too, ready to "boil":) And I thought about that Bible study this afternoon. Think I'll mosey on over and check it out in greater detail. Thanks for following - I thought you were here already too!
ReplyDelete