It is written in James 1:22-27 "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. 26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."
Change is driven by doing. If you know the direction you are suppose to go, but do not go that direction for fear of the unknown you will not go anywhere. That is where faith comes in, faith is believing in the truth without actually ever seeing it, it is trust that it will change and things will change without actually ever knowing for sure.
If I want change, I must make a choice, to actually start the process, if I just wait for things to happen they will not change. If I do nothing to prompt the change and just expect it to happen, then I am a fool. I need to take the steps of faith to actually say I believe that change will come only when I start making a choice to change. See my choice can be to change, but if I do not have actions to back the change, then do I really believe that anything will change.
I believe my christian walk is much the same as change. I can except Jesus Christ into my life and I have done that, but if I do nothing to continue my relationship with Him, then I will grow stagnate and there will be no change. I will be a new Christian for the rest of my time, not experiencing God's joy and so much more. To be a Christian is not just merely excepting Jesus into my life, but actually walking it daily, I need to be willing to put the old ways behind me and walk into the new ways of Jesus, His teachings, His word and I need to keep doing it daily. That is the action, I have made a choice and need to back it up with action and doing.
Our marriages are the same way, see individually I need to be willing to make a choice and take action. Spiritually I need to make a choice and then I need to take action, I need to walk the path that God has layed out for me, if I do not start walking, I will not move anywhere. That is what faith is. In our marriages, nothing will change if we are not willing to take action to have them change. What I am trying to get at is, we have a solution to issues in our lives, in our spiritual walks, in our marriages, but if we are not willing to actually start the journey, the journey will not begin. It will seem as if we are just repeating each day with the same ending.
In your life, what do you want? Do you want to repeat each day or do you want to grow and to change? I don't know about you, but I want to grow and to change, I want to learn, to take the time that God has for me, to walk the path and even the uphill paths are better then staying stuck in the same place for fear of what is next or to lazy to move. Isn't it time to actually move. If you are stuck in personal change, then I am guessing you are stuck in other area's too. It takes faith and believing that the path that God has you on is the right path. God doesn't make mistakes, trust in Him, He knows where He wants you, but until you start taking the step of faith, not much will change. Take the step and watch to see what God does.
As I sat here thinking about what I wrote, I wanted to add an additional thought. If I want to lose weight, if I just state I want to do it, I will not lose weight until I actually take action, just the same as getting in shape, I must do the things necessary to lose weight. This is true in everything in life, if I do not take the action necessary, just saying something does not make it true. They say in order to show someone you love them, just saying the words will not do it, but put action to those words and know what it too will be as you say it. Just saying something isn't enough, you must take action, must put work into it for something to happen. Otherwise it is just words.
I often think of the Apostle Paul, who had a very tarnished past BUT God changed all that giving him a future and a hope... So reflected in all his writings in the New Testament. He hardly ever refers to his past but exhorts Christ's followers to press on toward the high calling in Christ Jesus. That is what you ave done.
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