The Heart to Change

For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you. 2 Corinthians 2:4


Change often comes through a revelation that a path traveled was a wrong one. However, there are times forces of status quo and false teaching can cloud which path is a righteous one. Something that can clear our vision to see is not just revealed in our mind. It is often when the path toward righteousness overwhelms our heart and spirit.

A friend and I were reminiscing about the Civil Rights movement, and we took a look at it from a historical perspective. While we knew there were many moving pieces to the struggle, we spent time determining what the turning point was. As we dived into the subject further, I told him of a revelation of sorts. Many who knew the history when asked what the turning point of the Civil Rights movement was might say that it was Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech. Others would mention it was the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott. Some might even point out the burning of the churches down south. However as I analyzed all of the various events and marches, there was one event that was so powerful in its vivid imagery and so clear in its distinct example of blatant racial injustice that it was impossible for anyone righteous to ignore.

I remembered March 7, 1965, when a march was planned from Selma to Montgomery, AL. On this day, which is officially marked as “Bloody Sunday,” peaceful marchers were attacked by Alabama State and Selma local police forces using billy clubs and tear gas. It was indeed a dark day in our country’s history. However as we have learned in scripture, it is often through darkness that God shows His light to all who follow. We are grateful to many of our mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, who looked at the images of men and women being senselessly attacked and abused and said with a unified voice, “No more!” No more will we allow the injustice of discrimination to cloud the judgment of this nation. No more will we tolerate a country that would dare say we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal and then say it only applied if you had a particular skin color. No more would we say that the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness was allowable only in selected inner circles. Thus change came boldly and swiftly to our nation, and today we are better because of it.

When God sees wrongdoing, He will always provide vision into the injustice so that it may be corrected. In today’s verse, Paul speaks of wrongdoing amongst the churches in Corinth, and the depth his love for all of their people. Note the feelings here; distress, anguish, with many tears. These are the signs of pain and struggle much like you would envision many of the marchers, but for a growing Christian, these are also the signs of growth, strengthen, and enlightenment. Is it any wonder that the saying goes, “That which does not kill you can only make you stronger.” It is with that in mind that Paul noted that his writing was not to cause grief. They were to show depth of love. It is through his love for the people that healing was to begin. Sometimes God will address it within one’s heart to speak of change as Paul. Other times, it is through evidence of wrongdoing that overwhelms the worldly view in our hearts and tears down its structure to erect a view obedient to His will and that of the Holy Spirit. This is very much evident in the change of our nation that fateful day. The bottom line is whether through one or many, God can make a way for us to move what the world might view to be immovable mountains.

God wants both our minds and hearts to be obedient to Him. At times, we can be oblivious to this because our focus can be worldly. While the word of God is an absolute necessity, we should always sensitive to God’s movement in the world, and when He does, our hearts are stirred in such a way that we must act with both passion and conviction for His purpose. My prayer is that through our relationship with Jesus Christ we have solidly built a heart willing to change. Amen.

Spiritual GPS

Trust in the LORD with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;


in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

I was looking at my GPS and realized how much easier it has made driving for me. Whenever I am lost, need to find an ATM, or am curious of which route is the fastest, I simply need to push a few buttons, and the GPS answers every question how to get from point A to point B in a fast an efficient manner. This is so much more efficient than my old way, which was pulling out my road atlas that I purchased every year, and then methodically spending the night before plotting out my way, which often time had a detour that I could neither anticipate nor navigate efficiently through to get back to the correct route.

I was reading a book about how we are naturally analytical about problems. It could be as simple as which brand of green beans to buy, or something as complex as what kind of car to purchase. The more complex the decision becomes, the more we are likely to spend time weighing all the options. Sometimes, we weigh those options so much that we end up being paralyzed to make a decision and become stuck in a rut. This deals most likely with something that we are trying to change. Maybe we’re trying to figure out the best way to lose weight or how to get our children to behave differently. What it says is that sometimes our problem is not motivation. It can be our natural tendency analyze because our own natural tendencies to just see the problem. Our minds are stuck in the same old beliefs that insist that we are not capable of or too resistant to change.  This deals most likely with something that we are trying to change, and in these cases, we need some kind of direction to make a decision.

In our spiritual growth, it is the trust in our Heavenly Father that allows for change in our lives that is transforming. If we lean on our own understanding, we only know of what others or we would say. You are this type of person, and you will always be that person. While many of these things may be true of the person you have been, trusting and acknowledging Him will lead to being a brand new person. People today will look at you as the person you once were, but through continual prayer and habitual acknowledgment of Jesus Christ as the leader of our lives, we become reborn not just in word but also in deeds. We become filled with the fruits of the spirit, and the old self slowly becomes a part of our past. Bitterness becomes kindness. Anxiety becomes patience. We become the embodiment of 1 Corinthians 13 (the chapter of Love).

Change is possible, but true life transformational change is not possible without some direction. God is the one partner we have in our lives who is true, just, and without fail. He gives us the necessary direction that is essential for spiritual growth, and our only need is to follow that direction. My prayer is that we remember to trust God to provide us with direction for our spiritual growth.  Amen.