Yes! You Really Can ChangeSample

Is a Changed Life Possible for Everyone? – Part 2

Your calling is to let Jesus live His life in you and through you. He is both the exact image of God and the perfect template of humanity. Thus, everyone who allows His Spirit to work in their hearts can be transformed into the original image they were created to carry. You change!

The core of the Christian life is to let Jesus live His life in you and through you. As you live out that calling, your life will align with the image of Christ you were called to carry. That’s what Paul means when he says we are to walk worthy of our calling. 

He doesn’t load us up with a to-do list, though. Ephesians 4:2-3 is more of a to-be list. God’s teaching about life-change involves attitudes and relationships. Relationships are a necessary environment for transformation.  

God changes lives through the power of His Word and His Spirit in the context of sacrificial, others-centered relationships. 

Paul lists four key attributes that are central to relationships. 

• Humility: an accurate view of oneself from God’s perspective. It’s treating everyone with the value God places on each person. 
• Gentleness: to be considerate, have restraint (power under control). Give up the need to be “right,” and rest in the fact that you are already and forever secure, loved, and valued.
• Patience: steadfastness in suffering; the reluctance to avenge or pay back those who have wronged you. 
• Bearing with: this means to put up with the quirks and idiosyncrasies of other people.

Jesus demonstrates all of these attributes with us. By treating one another the way He treats us, we transform into more Christ-like behavior. 

Reflection:

• How would you evaluate your practice of humility, gentleness, patience, and bearing-with others?
• What one step can you take today to put these behaviors into practice?

Prayer: Lord, please show me what it means to live a life that matches who You are, so that I can continue being transformed into the person You see me to be.