{"id":102779,"date":"2022-02-03T07:36:09","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T12:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/?p=102779"},"modified":"2023-09-20T10:45:42","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T14:45:42","slug":"how-can-i-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/how-can-i-change\/","title":{"rendered":"How Can I Change?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It only takes one glance through the magazines in the grocery checkout line to confirm our culture\u2019s obsession with transformation:\u00a0<\/span>
\n<\/i><\/p>\n

Eat, Look, and Live Better; Spend Smarter and Live Happier; Amazing Before and After Makeovers\u2026<\/i>of Home or Work or Body or Self.
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

We know<\/i> we are not enough.\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

So we constantly fill our prayers and our screens and our souls with the \u201cideal\u201d \u2014 with all the possibilities of revision: How do I become someone else?<\/i><\/p>\n

The good news? God already knows we are not enough; it\u2019s the reason He sent His Son to change our hearts and His Spirit to change our lives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Change is His idea \u2014\u00a0He wants us to be transformed into His glory, to grow to live in order to please God, and to be made holy\u00a0 <\/span>(2 Corinthians 3:18, I Thessalonians 4:1, Hebrews 10:14).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But how do we do it? And why is change often so hard?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How do I change?<\/b><\/h2>\n

One of the most well-known verses of the Bible gives us a way forward:
\n<\/i><\/p>\n

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God\u2019s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God\u2014this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God\u2019s will is\u2014his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2<\/i><\/p>\n

There are plenty of next steps to see in this scripture:
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

True change starts with grace.<\/b><\/p>\n

Good change begins \u201cin view of God\u2019s mercy,\u201d with a panoramic view of His grace towards us. Start here, and we\u2019ll want to change in response to His love instead of our failures.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We can also face our need to change with the comfort of His unconditional acceptance. He has been patient with us, so we can be patient with ourselves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Godly change always begins with compassion, not self-condemnation.<\/em><\/p>\n

True change takes a surrender.<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

True change asks us to sacrifice our desires.<\/i> It always lays down on the altar to be set ablaze by the Spirit, putting God in HIs place and us in ours as \u201ctrue and proper worship.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Godly change always says ‘not my will, but yours be done.’<\/em><\/p>\n

True change demands new targets.\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

When our prayers for change go unanswered, it\u2019s often because we are asking to \u201cconform to the pattern of this world\u201d \u2014\u00a0to gain attention, money, appearance, power, control. If we\u2019re finding it hard to change, we\u2019re probably working on something in us that God is not.<\/p>\n

He has more for us. To find it, we must \u201crenew our minds\u201d \u2014 to listen to the right voices, to learn from the right teachers, and to have \u201cthe mind of Christ.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Godly change aims for godly intentions.<\/em><\/p>\n

True change takes a true reason.\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Ours, as Christians, is to become more like Christ. Romans 12:2 says we should desire to change because it helps us know what God\u2019s will is and to do it,\u00a0which was the goal of Jesus\u2019 mission on earth: For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me (John 6:38).<\/i><\/p>\n

Godly change starts with God\u2019s will as the goal.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

True change takes time.\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a reason we are given a lifetime; there are no quick fixes toward becoming like Jesus. Even Jesus didn\u2019t find one \u2014 he begged the Father for a road other than the one that would lead Him to the cross. We must walk in the way that has been planned for us.<\/p>\n

Godly change takes God-timed seasons.<\/em><\/p>\n

When will I change?<\/b><\/h2>\n

We can try to scrub and scour the stubborn, burned spots off of our soul, but all of the elbow grease of willpower can\u2019t make up for a slow soak in truth and obedience.\u00a0<\/span>
\nBeware of change that is promised too quickly. It is often the way that seems right, but that in the end, leads to a death formed out of self-made, self-help, self-trust. (Proverbs 14:12<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Change that grows from lies weaves itself into healthy bones like a cancer \u2014 a growth that is rapid but only weakens and kills us in the end, because it grew the wrong thing.
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

Masterworks take time. Above all, they take the Master\u2019s Work, not ours<\/b> (Ephesians 2:10<\/a>). We \u00a0surrender, and we choose His goals, and we obey \u2014 again, and again, and again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And suddenly, we look up, and see more of our God in the mirror.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It only takes one glance through the magazines in the grocery checkout line to confirm our culture\u2019s obsession with transformation:\u00a0 Eat, Look, and Live Better; Spend Smarter and Live Happier;…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":104540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,46,105,106,38],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-102779","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-christian-life","8":"category-magazine","9":"category-sin","10":"category-spiritual-growth","11":"category-theology"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow Can I Change? - Grace Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Change is His idea \u2014\u00a0He wants us to be transformed into His glory, to grow to live in order to please God, and to be made holy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/how-can-i-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Can I Change? - Grace Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Change is His idea \u2014\u00a0He wants us to be transformed into His glory, to grow to live in order to please God, and to be made holy.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/how-can-i-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Grace Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/discovergracefl\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-03T12:36:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-20T14:45:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/tatiana-diakova-k_NkqIaRhro-unsplash-768x514-1.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"514\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kelly Adkins\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kelly Adkins\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/how-can-i-change\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/how-can-i-change\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kelly Adkins\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7a52c0d03e78b60a4f6fe9f216c92d8f\"},\"headline\":\"How Can I Change?\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-03T12:36:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-20T14:45:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/how-can-i-change\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":763,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/how-can-i-change\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/tatiana-diakova-k_NkqIaRhro-unsplash-768x514-1.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Christian Life\",\"Magazine\",\"Sin\",\"Spiritual Growth\",\"Theology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/how-can-i-change\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/how-can-i-change\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/how-can-i-change\\\/\",\"name\":\"How Can I Change? - Grace Church\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/how-can-i-change\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/how-can-i-change\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/tatiana-diakova-k_NkqIaRhro-unsplash-768x514-1.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-03T12:36:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-20T14:45:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"Change is His idea \u2014\u00a0He wants us to be transformed into His glory, to grow to live in order to please God, and to be made holy.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/how-can-i-change\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/how-can-i-change\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/tatiana-diakova-k_NkqIaRhro-unsplash-768x514-1.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/tatiana-diakova-k_NkqIaRhro-unsplash-768x514-1.jpeg\",\"width\":768,\"height\":514},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Grace Church\",\"description\":\"Let us help you take your next step.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Grace Church\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/cropped-Grace-brandmark-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/cropped-Grace-brandmark-1.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Grace Church\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/discovergracefl\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7a52c0d03e78b60a4f6fe9f216c92d8f\",\"name\":\"Kelly Adkins\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/Kelly-Adkins-100x100.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/Kelly-Adkins-100x100.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/Kelly-Adkins-100x100.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Kelly Adkins\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/discovergrace.com\\\/author\\\/kellyadkins\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Can I Change? - Grace Church","description":"Change is His idea \u2014\u00a0He wants us to be transformed into His glory, to grow to live in order to please God, and to be made holy.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/how-can-i-change\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Can I Change? - Grace Church","og_description":"Change is His idea \u2014\u00a0He wants us to be transformed into His glory, to grow to live in order to please God, and to be made holy.","og_url":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/how-can-i-change\/","og_site_name":"Grace Church","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/discovergracefl","article_published_time":"2022-02-03T12:36:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-09-20T14:45:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":514,"url":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/tatiana-diakova-k_NkqIaRhro-unsplash-768x514-1.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kelly Adkins","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kelly Adkins","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/how-can-i-change\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/how-can-i-change\/"},"author":{"name":"Kelly Adkins","@id":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7a52c0d03e78b60a4f6fe9f216c92d8f"},"headline":"How Can I Change?","datePublished":"2022-02-03T12:36:09+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-20T14:45:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/how-can-i-change\/"},"wordCount":763,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/how-can-i-change\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/tatiana-diakova-k_NkqIaRhro-unsplash-768x514-1.jpeg","articleSection":["Christian Life","Magazine","Sin","Spiritual Growth","Theology"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/how-can-i-change\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/how-can-i-change\/","url":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/how-can-i-change\/","name":"How Can I Change? - Grace Church","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/how-can-i-change\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/how-can-i-change\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/tatiana-diakova-k_NkqIaRhro-unsplash-768x514-1.jpeg","datePublished":"2022-02-03T12:36:09+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-20T14:45:42+00:00","description":"Change is His idea \u2014\u00a0He wants us to be transformed into His glory, to grow to live in order to please God, and to be made holy.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/how-can-i-change\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/how-can-i-change\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/tatiana-diakova-k_NkqIaRhro-unsplash-768x514-1.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/tatiana-diakova-k_NkqIaRhro-unsplash-768x514-1.jpeg","width":768,"height":514},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/","name":"Grace Church","description":"Let us help you take your next step.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/#organization","name":"Grace Church","url":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/cropped-Grace-brandmark-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/cropped-Grace-brandmark-1.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Grace Church"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/discovergracefl"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7a52c0d03e78b60a4f6fe9f216c92d8f","name":"Kelly Adkins","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Kelly-Adkins-100x100.jpg","url":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Kelly-Adkins-100x100.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Kelly-Adkins-100x100.jpg","caption":"Kelly Adkins"},"url":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/author\/kellyadkins\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102779"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105908,"href":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102779\/revisions\/105908"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102779"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/discovergrace.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=102779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}