By: Jenifer Metzger
Recently I was talking with someone who is a new believer. She asked Jesus into her heart and began to read the Bible. But after time, she was shocked when she didn't feel different and nothing in her life had changed.
The problem? She was still living her old life. The Bible tells us in Romans that we are not to copy the behaviors and customs of the world. We must throw off those things that entangle us with the world and surrender everything to God.
When we ask Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of our lives, that is just step one. We can't continue to live the same way we lived and expect our lives to be transformed for God. So how can we change our behaviors and customs?
First we have to learn what sin is and why God hates it. We can do this by reading the Word of God. The Bible is clear on what sin is and as we continue to read the Word, we will begin a life long process of learning what sin is. God has a plan for your life, a plan He's had before you ever took your first breath, and sin messes up the plans God has for us. Not only does sin mess up God's plans, it also puts a divider up to separate us from God.
We have to regularly repent of sin. We are all sinners. The difference between the world and believers is that believers recognize their sin and repent. To continue transforming our life for God, we need to repent of our sins. As soon as you recognize you have sinned, ask God for forgiveness. It is also important to regularly ask God to reveal any unrepented sin in your life. Sometimes we may sin and not realize it or recognize it as sin. When we ask God to reveal the sin to us, we are able to repent and grow.
We need to recognize what it means to repent. There is a difference in asking forgiveness and repenting. Asking forgiveness is simply the act of saying you are sorry. However, repentance is understanding why what you've done is wrong, asking forgiveness, and turning away from that sin as you strive to not do that anymore.
We need to change our behaviors. As a believer, we need to be careful about the things we do, say, listen to, watch, read, and even think. Before becoming a believer, the music you listen to, the movies you watched, and the words you said may not have given you much thought. Yet as a believer, we need to be careful about the things we let into our hearts and mind, as well as the thing we let come out of our mouths.
Seek wise counsel. God doesn't save us then throw us out there to figure things out alone. Seek the wise counsel of someone who has been saved longer than you. Someone who is boldly serving the Lord. Ask questions, ask for advice, and ask for prayer. As you continue to grow and transform your life for God, one day you will be the one giving the wise and godly counsel to a new believer.
The transformation process is a lifelong process. We will never be perfect, we will never "arrive." We continue to learn, grow, and transform day by day, moment by moment. It is a beautiful journey with God!
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