December 19, 2008

Changes

We usually take the phrase ‘you haven’t changed one bit’ as a compliment. Perhaps we have some outward characteristics which stay consistent, but generally speaking if we haven’t changed over the years, we’ve got a serious problem. Really, can you imagine being the same person you were 10, 20 or 30 years ago. Or worse yet, being the same person you were when you first became a believer. Just as we enjoy watching young people grow to adulthood, we also take pleasure watching one another grow spiritually. I dare say we’re all more comfortable being the watcher than being the watched.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Gail;

-----Thank you. At one time in my life change was maybe the most important concept in my thinking. Of course, it also was a time when I was working hard to free myself from emotional instability. Change was necessary. But since then, I’ve gone through many years of thinking, “Well, now I’m ok.” And believe me certainly, I thanked God for that. I always knew change continued to be important (it had become part of my thinking), but the reality of actually incorporating changes rather slipped below the surface of finally feeling fine.
-----Even so, I look back over the events of those “changeless” years, and I still see big changes in my life. The best and most dear is a beautiful bride whose influence has slowly effected me for the much better. I see two more major changes effected by situational trauma. For all of this and more, I am deeply thankful towards God, Char, and those situations.
-----But what I do not see are the purposeful changes like those I drove myself to make three decades ago. It is fine to be shaped by the joys and pressures of life exerted upon a mind thoughtful in God’s Word. But my old purposeful searching for some inner object to change in the ambition of alleviating a particular inadequacy of character has cooled to room temperature. And I still have some major inadequacies. These two conditions should not exist side by side. They make me feel unrepentant.
-----Poke me again sometime, Gail. Because I really need to hear someone come along and say, “Boy! You’ve changed!”

Love,
Steve Corey