“Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.” (John 3:6 NLT)
What does it mean to have a “changed life?” There are life-changing events and experiences that may have nothing to do with a person meeting Jesus or having a heart-change for God. Someone can win the lottery, get married, have a baby, move to another country, or have a lung transplant and their life will change dramatically, yet they may still be just as carnal as they ever were.
There’s not necessarily anything “spiritual” about a changed life. Change, in and of itself, isn’t good or bad, it’s what that change leads to. One person can go to prison and come out a new creation in Christ Jesus, while another can come out bitter, angry, and hardened against any concept of a god.
There are innumerable events or circumstances that can and often do change our lives, some of which turn people to Christ, while others can experience the same crisis and be turned away from Him. Ironically, some, even within the church, have the mindset that if they can only change for the better or “get their act together,” or get free of their addiction, God will love them and accept them.
Christine Caine said: “Christianity is not about behavior modification it’s about heart transformation.” Turning over the proverbial “new leaf” isn’t what God desires. We are wayward and fickle, unreliable, and sinful beings. We can profess love for God and still swindle our family member in a business deal. What’s my point? Simply this, spiritually speaking, we’re incapable of changing ourselves.
A life of honor, respect for God and others, and dependence upon God in every avenue of our lives isn’t attained through our own goodness or any human ability, it’s a gift from God. We are helpless and hopeless to change ourselves, “to make something of ourselves” in a spiritual sense. A genuinely changed life, at least a life evidenced by a sincere heart for God, can’t be counterfeited or faked long term.
Ultimately, our true colors are going to show, but even if we could fool everyone for our whole life, we still have to stand before the God who knows us better than we know ourselves, so why try? True repentance doesn’t happen except through the intervention of a holy God. We can develop God honoring habits that are empowered and made possible by the Holy Spirit, but we can’t take credit for any life change that results from our efforts. It’s a partnership between us and God.
Tim Keller wrote: “God’s salvation doesn’t come in response to a changed life. A changed life naturally comes in response to salvation.” When we yield our life and allegiance to Jesus, the Holy Spirit moves in and takes over, but only to the extent we allow. At first, it’s cumbersome and it takes time for us to adapt to having Someone else call the shots in our life, but the closer we get to Jesus the more of Himself He’ll reveal to us.
In this season of my life there’s nothing more important or meaningful to me than the presence of God in my life. I’m finally learning that I can literally do nothing apart from Him. James L. Snyder wrote: “Throughout the history of humanity, there have been great discoveries. I am not sure which one we could point to and say, ‘That is the greatest discovery in the world.’ But for the hungry heart, there is but one discovery that satisfies it: the discovery of the manifest, conscious presence of God.”
A changed life is valueless unless and until it reflects the presence of God in how a person thinks, acts, and lives. The words of Paul in Philippians 1:21 resonate with my spirit in this season of my life: “For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.”
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 