–> Change is fundamental to the gospel.
(2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
–> Profound transformation requires an inside-out change.
(Matthew 7:17) Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
–> God is the source of transformation.
(Revelation 21:5) He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
–> If you don’t ever change, you may not know God.
(1 John 1:6-10 NIV) If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
(1 John 2:4-6) Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
STEPS TO TRANSFORMATION
- Stop focusing on what you were and seize who God would have you become.
(Philippians 3:13-14) Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
- Grant God full rights to your life.
(Psalm 37:4-6 ESV) Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.
(Philippians 2:13 NLT) For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
- Now is the time to change.
(2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV) But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.