Change & Growth

'They go from strength to strength...' Psalm 84:7 NIV

In an old Peanuts cartoon Charlie Brown says to his friend Linus, 'What would you do if you felt that no one liked you?' Linus replies, 'I'd see what I could do to improve.' To which Charlie Brown replies, 'I hate that answer!' There are three reasons we hate that answer and want to freeze life where it's at:

(1) When it took everything we had to get to where we are, 'Let's go' is not what we want to hear.

(2) We're creatures of habit; we form our habits, then our habits form us.

(3) Change makes us feel insecure; deep down, we fear we don't have what it takes.

Near the top of a mountain in the Alps is an epitaph to a Swiss guide which reads, 'He died climbing.' (What a great way to be remembered!) Growth is an uphill climb. If you want to keep growing you must never stop climbing: '...the path of the just is like the shining light, that shines every brighter unto the perfect day.' (Proverbs 4:18 NKJV) How do we grow and change? 'They go from strength to strength.' In his book Teaching to Change Lives, Dr. Howard Hendricks asks teachers these soul-searching questions. 'How have you changed lately? In the last week, let's say? Or the last month? Can you be very specific? Or must your answer always be incredibly vague? You say you're growing, okay - how?' 'Well,' you say, 'In all kinds of ways.' Great; name one! You see, effective teaching only comes through a changed person. When you stop changing, you stop leading. Today ask God to pinpoint the areas in which you need to change and grow.