How to change you
HOW TO CHANGE YOURSELF
Matthew 7:3
And why do you look at the speck in your brothers eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Let me say it again..And why do you look at the speck in your brothers eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?
Why are we constantly evaluating others? Here's what I think. We are living in the most distracted time in history and if we are not careful we will scroll through the lives of others and never live our own life. We pass time by scrolling through the news feeds of others, and in our subconscious mind we are measuring our lives to others. I am not exempt from this. I'm constantly locking my phone up, fasting social media, and taking days to go dark (turning my phone off). If we are not careful we will never allow our hearts to go deep enough to hear the whisper of God.
Ripple affect illustration:
Have you ever thrown a rock into a pond? It will splash and then it will ripple. If we begin to change, we will see others change. That's why Ghandi says "Be the change you wish to see in the world." I heard someone once say "the price of doing the same old thing is far higher than the price of change.” When I started to change my life by facing my addiction, I noticed that my entire family was starting to grow as well. As I started to become intentional about facing my issues, they began to take notice. If we truly want to impact the world we need to first impact ourselves. Even as I write, I’m in a season where I’m asking God to change me again, to transform my heart. There is nothing more important than influencing others to live their full potential. If we all started to change our own lives, think of the ripple affect that would happen throughout our communities. The serenity prayer says, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference."
After being in a recovery program for a few months, I grew very close with a key volunteer. It was inspiring to see people volunteer their time to help others. The gentleman and I formed a friendship that still last today. Every month we meet for coffee and catch up on life. While in the program, we would always greet each other with “One day at a time.” Our goal was to be the first to remind the other that we could stay clean today. We didn’t have to worry about tomorrow because tomorrow had enough trouble of it’s own. That’s what the Bible says and I believe it ;).