I believe that it is often easy to confuse a lifestyle change from the change God is making in our lives, as He works to sanctify us [Sanctify means God is making us more like Jesus. He is setting us apart from the world’s ways].
Changing our lifestyle is a necessary part of the work God does when we come to Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
But we need to realize that people without a true relationship with God can’t make lifestyle changes that are the same as those of us who have a relationship with Jesus.
For example, partying and getting drunk are not behaviors which honor the Lord. Ephesians 5:18 directs us in this matter: “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,”. When we walk in the power of the Spirit, we are self-controlled, the opposite of what happens when we get drunk.
Another example, is how we view and handle ourselves with regard to sexuality. Hebrews 13:4 gives clarification of the role of sex in our lives: “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” 1 Corinthians 6:18 explains why we need to be engaged in sex only in the marital setting: “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.” We certainly don’t want to cause ourselves harm! We want to live under God’s blessing.
These are a few examples of lifestyle changes. These are not always an indicator of a relationship with Jesus. Some people have good moral standards.
But God wants more than a lifestyle change and good moral standards.
I want more than a lifestyle change. I want permanent changes to my sinful character so that I am increasingly abiding in Jesus. John 3:30 ESV: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30 NIV: “He must become greater; I must become less.”
This kind of change only happens as God’s Holy Spirit works in the life of a true follower of Christ.
His Spirit produces a desire in us to want to live fully for Christ.
His Spirit, through His word, is living and active.
His Spirit, through His word, changes us.
His Spirit produces a desire to spend time reading and studying the word of God.
His Spirit produces a desire to talk with God, to seek Him, and increasingly surrender to Him.
His Spirit convicts us of sin, and leads us in repentance.
Have you ever tried to produce patience in yourself? I find that when I try to produce patience in myself, I get more impatient, because I simply cannot do it on my own.
Galatians 5:22-23 reminds us it is the “fruit of the Spirit”. It is not the fruit of my efforts! [“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”]
I cannot fully explain how my character changes – reading God’s word daily, talking with Him throughout each day, spending time with other people intent on following and obeying God, etc. – but it is a work of God’s power through His Spirit to change me. I can testify that the changes in my character, my way of approaching people, are not because of my efforts, but a supernatural work of God in me.
What I find incredible in this process is that I am more relaxed knowing that as I pursue God, He is making the changes in me. I don’t feel uptight about not meeting some level of performance or expectation. That is what the ungodly world thinks, that it is something we are expected to do. God reassures me that He will do the work in me.
But God expects that we will cooperate with the leading of His Holy Spirit, reading the Bible and obeying it increasingly.
But God tells me in Matthew 16:24-26: “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me[That means to make a commitment to God through Jesus.], let him deny himself [Choose to reject ungodly ways.] and take up his cross [We need to make a full surrender to God.] and follow me [FOLLOW – not figure it out, but look to Him and He WILL guide us]. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. [The way to what truly matters is to let go of what goes against God, and then we will find what truly matters.] For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” [We have everything to gain when we surrender to Christ!]
2 Corinthians 5:17 in the Amplified Bible provides some further understanding: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].”
Galatians 2:20 reminds us that it is Christ in us who is working out our new life in Him: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
What is significant is that Christ is doing the work. We cannot compare this to anything we know in this worldly existence. We must take it by faith. It is more than a lifestyle change, it is a character change.
Please contact me if you want to talk about becoming a changed person in Christ: ButGodCares@gmail.com.
Living for Jesus, Donna
P.S. If this has helped you, please feel free to share it with others!
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Copyright 2023 Donna Shappy All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other – without the prior permission of the author.