I woke up this morning to a yard filled with snow. Yesterday it was clear and sunny where I live. Today clouds fill the sky and snow covers the ground. When it comes to weather, I like change. When it comes to life, not so much. Change is hard. This is especially true when we need to change the way that we live. The truth is, we are creatures of habit. We tend to do what we've always done. When it becomes necessary for us to do things differently, change can feel impossible. But have you ever noticed that being a Christian requires a lot of change? In fact, God calls us to constantly turn away from our old self and to seek to be more like Him. Romans 8:29 says, "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son." Being conformed to the image of Jesus isn't easy. It means constantly evaluating how we live through the lens of God's Word and making the changes necessary to be more like Him. It takes work and discipline and sacrifice in order to strive toward Christlikeness. It's tempting to stick with the status quo rather than make the changes necessary to live more and more like Jesus. It may not feel like it, but the reward for allowing Christ to change us is always worth the cost. In contrast, refusing to change comes with a heavy price tag. Here's how Nancy and Dannah put it in Lies Young Women Believe:
What you choose to do now will either form habits you have to break in the future or habits that are helpful to you. Galatians 6:7 says, "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, the he will also reap..." If you plant to please your own desires, you'll reap a crop of consequences. If you plan to please God, you'll reap joy, peace, and everlasting life. Habits are a result of seemingly insignificant, individual choices and acts that you sow when you're twelve, fifteen, or twenty. They can be good or bad. You'll reap what you sow. You're sowing seeds now. What you do with your time, your eating habits, your exercise habits, the way you talk, the way you talk to your parents, the way you treat your friends, they way you spend your money, the way you work, your sleep habits.... These are habits you are developing today (Lies Young Women Believe, 166).
In what areas of your life do you need to make changes in order to live more like Jesus? What habits do you need to break? What new habits do you need to form? What changes can you make today to live more like Him?