Reflection
Change begins with an exchange. It demands both putting off the old and putting on the new. We cannot cover ourselves with a veneer of Christ’s message while basically retaining our old habits. Change does not only mean to stop the wrong, but to add the right. Following Christ doesn’t only reform us, it transforms us. Christ’s call doesn’t merely provide pious words; it expects right actions. The change is a change through the power of the Gospel. It is the demonstration of the new self in our everyday living.
Prayer
Create in me a new heart, O God.
Action
Consider what is meant in the gospel by the “new self”. Reflecting on your actions and outlook what would that mean for you? Does it require change? What would be transformative?
Suggested Reading
Put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.
Ephesians 4:24
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2
The way must be in you; the destination also must be in you and not somewhere else in space or time. If that kind of self-transformation is being realized in you, you will arrive.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Change is inevitable, but transformation is by conscious choice.
Heather Ash Amara
Your real, new self (which is Christ’s and also yours, and yours just because it is His) will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for Him.
C.S.Lewis
One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.
Abraham Maslow
Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion – it is a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ.
Billy Graham
In conversion you are not attached primarily to an order, nor to an institution, nor a movement, nor a set of beliefs, nor a code of action – you are attached primarily to a Person, and secondarily to these other things.
E. Stanley Jones
Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive.
Howard Thurman
Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
John Wooden.
The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.
Oliver W Holmes.