Choosing to Change

 What does spiritual change look like in your life?

Over the past few weeks in worship, we have been in a sermon series entitled: Change my Heart O God. There are times when change is inevitable. We can fight against it all we want, but life is going to move forward. At other times, the choice is left up to us. We have to be the ones who open our hearts and respond. Either way, change can come with a lot of difficulties. 

I know as a parent I feel like I spend a ton of time just getting my kids to accept change. Last Monday, I had the day off with my two boys. The school district had an inservice day, and I was off too. That part worked out great. I love all the moments I have with my kids, but sometimes it takes so much energy just to get them moving. They didn't even want to get out of their pajamas. By the time they we found their shoes, got dressed, and brushed their teeth, I felt burnt out. They wanted to fight me every step of the way. To make matters worse, it was also raining that day. I started to wonder if I should have just let them stay in their pajamas and watch TV. Perhaps that would have been easier, but I knew they needed something a little more. We wound up finding our rain jackets and jumping on our bikes to take a ride on the trail. It turned out to be a beautiful experience. My kids laughed as they splashed though the puddles. They opened their mouths to catch raindrops, and we went and explored the Pitman wash. We had a ton of fun. I wouldn't want to trade those moments, but sometimes I wish it didn't have to be such a battle.        

That may be a silly example, but there are plenty of times we refuse to do the work of change. We don't feel a need to search our hearts to grow. We would rather find excuses instead of reasons to change. However, we learn in the Bible that Christ is always asking us to grow. We are called into this incredible love He offers, and we are asked to be transformed by the Spirit.

Today I hope you can all search your hearts and listen for the Spirit. You may feel like change is impossible. You may feel like God doesn't care about you, or that you may not be worth it. However, God's Love promises to conquer all of this. God always wants us to grow and find new life. My prayer is for the Holy Spirit to lead you on that journey.

Blessings,

Brian Ward