You CAN Change I

I want to be careful not to violate copywrite laws here, but I reviewed the PeaceMaker on July 9. Now I want to give you a taste of the books totally practical style. There is a short section entitled You CAN Change which is worth the price of admission alone. Here it is in a few short installments. My hope is that this short section helps you AND inspires you to purchase and read the entire book.

The final step in finding freedom from a particular sin is to work with God to change your attitudes and behavior in the future. This process fulfills the third opportunity of peacemaking, namely, growing to be more like Christ.

God is eager to help us to grow and change (see Phil. 1:6, 2:3; Rom. 8:28-29; 1 Cor. 6:9-11; 2 Peter 1:4). There is no sin or habit in your life that cannot be overcome by his grace. If you have trusted in Jesus, God has already given you a new mind and a new nature (Eph. 4:22-24). And he promises to work in you so that you can learn to replace your old sinful behavior with godly attitudes and habits (Eph. 4:22-32). There are four ways that you can cooperate with God in this process.

Pray. Thank God for the saving work he has already done in your life and ask him to give you faith to believe that you can really change. Pray that he will open your eyes to see where he wants you to grow, and ask him to give you strength on a daily basis to put off your old ways of thinking and behaving and to put on new ways that imitate Christ (Ps. 139: 13-24; Phil. 1:9-11; Col. 1:9-12).

Delight yourself in the Lord. As we saw in chapter 5, the best way to squeeze idolatrous desires of our heart, mind, strength, and soul. As you focus on the Lord, you will discover that he can provide what idols promise but can never deliver. He alone can give lasting joy, peace, happiness, and security (Eph 1:18-19). As you delight yourself more in him, he will purify your heart and fill it with desires he is eager to satisfy (Ezek. 36:25-26; Ps. 37:4; Matt. 5:3-13). And out of that new heart he will bring forth the character of Christ (James 3:17-18).