Effortless Change
You can do it! It’s all up to you! Just employ the four Ds, Determination, dedication, discipline and desire. Commitment! You have to go, “go all the way.” You have to play “full out.” Will power. Self-assertiveness, Self-improvement, Self-actualization. Try harder. Work harder. Make something of yourself! You can do anything you put your mind to! Every motivational speech I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard many, preaches the same basic message. You!
Ironically, “Self-help” usually attracts the least likely to succeed by sheer will power. Most have a list of broken resolutions as long as their list of broken dreams.
Everyone already knows that the battle is in the will. Just listen to the smoker that constantly acknowledges,” I need to quit.” What has been concluded is,” I can’t change, I’ve tried.” But that admission does not mean that the war is lost. One of the most popular Self-help programs, names the first step to recovery as,” admitting you are powerless over…”
Jesus message was much different than the motivational speaker’s. He preached “The Kingdom of God and its transforming seed.” Sown in the soil of a believing heart, it’s the seed that bares fruit and does the changing. That’s effortless change.
“Changing myself,” vs. “God changing me,” is the difference. It makes change possible for everyone because it’s based on the power of God’s will, not personal will power. Highlighting extraordinary talent and will power, as in high performance athletes, can be inspirational, but most of us don’t posses that kind of strength, talent or will power. That’s why we pay money to watch those that do.
God can change you. He does so by the same remarkable power that formed the universe, His word. Our part is patience (endurance), simply allowing the seed of God’s word to grow in us like any expected harvest. Christ said, “My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” We make it harder by “try, try, again” determination. Striving is different from yielding.
Maybe you’ve realized that you can’t change. “The good news” is, you can be changed, and it begins with brokenness, vs. turning up the will power screw again. In the end, only God gets the credit and we’re eternally grateful.
God’s way of changing us relies on His extraordinary strength and talent, not ours. Unlike that new piece of exercise equipment that has now defaulted into the most expensive clothes rack in history, God’s offer comes with a dose of will power; His.