The word 'change' is often regarded as a bad word in the world today. People are so caught up with the idea of entitlement, that they are busy believing that they have the right to think or do whatever they want. This eliminates the need for change. Because to them, the only things that need to change is the world around them. This is extremely unfortunate for them. Because 'change' is an integral part of being a follower of Christ. In no way are we perfect. And we are often told this. But we are not to embrace our imperfection and use it as an excuse throughout our life. Instead, we were told to strive for perfection. Even though we will never truly achieve it. The idea is to constantly work to turn around our mistakes. Thus, not making any one mistake happen twice, if at all possible. In order for this to happen, we MUST change. We will always find things about ourselves that need to be changed in order to accommodate us in our journey to understand and to follow GOD's principles. Change is the primary reason why GOD hadn't already put His knowledge in our head by the time we were born. We came into this world not knowing. But needing to know. And to know anything requires a change in disposition. In society, change is the underdog. The black sheep. It is a threat to the selfish ways of the lost. If we cannot adopt change in our life, then we certainly cannot know GOD at all. We can always pretend to. But where will that get us? Let's not find that out. Humility, the root of all true Christianity, cannot exist without first being inclined to change.
When a preacher talks on the subject of Forgiveness, do you ever hear him talk about change? As it turns out, forgiveness is dependent upon change. How so? GOD has told us that we can receive forgiveness. But He has also told that when one comes into the Truth, there is no more forgiveness to be found. In the wrong context, this can sound like condemnation. But it is not. Think about this. Imagine a small child running through the house, knocking things over causing them to break. The parent tells that child that they did something wrong. The parent explains why, and for them to not to do it again. They are forgiven. Because the child doesn't know any better. But the child has been warned. A short while later, the child repeats the same mistake once again. The parent reprimands the child once again. And the child is forgiven. How many acts of forgiveness are required? As long as the child has NOT come into a full understanding of the seriousness of the wrongdoing, the child will repeat that same mistake. It is why they depend on GOD led parenting to bring them into the Truth. And once that child does in fact know better, there will be no more forgiveness for that mistake. They will suffer consequences of their actions. It is why adults get harsher punishments for breaking the law than a child would. There is no such thing as second offense with GOD. Either we know better or we do not. But if we do not know better due to our own negligence or ignorance, it will eventually work against our relationship with GOD. Because we must work diligently to come into Truth about ourselves and this world. It is very important and requires a serious mind. And certainly a willingness to change.
