Here’s another one of Joyce Meyer’s entries taken from yesterday in her devotional book, “Closer to God Each Day.”
Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind…
Romans 12:2
Change does not come through struggle, human effort without God, frustration, self-hatred, self-rejection, guilt, worry, or works of the flesh. We are new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), and as such we all want to please God. We want to be what He wants us to be, and behave the way He wants us to behave, but in order for that to happen, we need to learn how to think like He thinks.
Change in your life comes as a result of having your mind renewed by the Word of God (The Bible; Scripture). As you agree with God and really believe that what He says is true, it gradually begins to manifest itself in you. You begin to think differently, then you begin to talk differently, and finally you begin to act differently. This is a process that develops in stages, but while it is taking place you can still have the attitude, “I’m okay, and I’m on my way!”
Enjoy yourself while you are changing. Enjoy where you are on the way to where you are going. Enjoy the journey! Don’t waste all of your “now time” trying to rush into the future. Relax. Let God be God. Stop being so hard on yourself. Change comes little by little, but in that process you’re getting closer to Him each day.
We can come to Jesus just as we are. He takes us “as is” and makes us what we ought to be.
God bless,
Mark