Change is Good

Recently I sat with a group of older, godly women who have been faithful keepers in their home.  Most of them have children grown and many gone.  The discussion rabbit-trailed on how so many younger women no longer have desire or need to be mentored by older women; if they wonder about something they’ll just google it, if they want social time they’ll turn to their social media.  We’ve outgrown, then, Titus 2?

But one of the things which interested me for a couple weeks’ worth of thought was the consistent hearing, amongst us all, of the comment or variations on, “Well, that’s just who I am.”  Spoken or inferred being, “I am not going to change.  You must accept who I am, because I have no need to become anyone else.”  We live in a culture where children cut their teeth on the premise that they are born tabula rasa, that they have inherent talent and giftedness no matter if they cultivate and work hard or not, and where building self esteem trumps actual excellence.  It’s no wonder so few pursue godly growth, which often necessitates change.

The qualifier is, of course, that we ought to accept who God has made one another to be, and embrace the differences that make us unique in our interests, calling, and gifts.  That being said, however, when one has not seen a peaceful, orderly home in action, and is not managing her home with cheerful grace and noble womanhood and a contented husband; has not cultivated a quiet spirit, or other gifts of the Spirit, and is inhibiting wisdom, strong marital relationships, vibrant friendships with their children; then she joins the sisterhood of women growing in Christ, pursuing her high calling with energy.  This invariably necessitates change.  Learning, growing, adapting, reading, humbling, CHANGE. 

We three (my daughters and I) bought tshirts on top of the Rocky Mountains picturing aspens turned golden; they say, “Change is Good”.  Seeing the aspens begin to turn was a breathtaking beauty-fest.  Seeing one another change more and more into the image of Christ is more so.  To embrace change as we turn away from self and embrace the reality of our identity in Christ, is a gorgeous garment for we as women to wear.  Let’s wrap ourselves in change that glows, shimmers, with ever-increasing Light!

“But we all…are being transformed into the same image (what image? “the glory of the Lord” is the antecedent—the image being referred to!) from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”  (II Cor 3:18) Footnote in my Bible:  “Far from a fading glory, our glory is ever-increasing , as we are changed more and more into the likeness of Christ…we are being progressively restored to greater and greater possession of the image of God which was corrupted at the fall of Adam.”

“People have a hard time believing that their lives could be dramatically different—that they themselves could be dramatically different—because they have no imagination.”—R Rayburn

“Satan will try to convince you that obedience carries much too high a price, but He will never tell you the cost of not obeying God.  If you are to be used in God’s service, you must expect to make adjustments in your life.  Can you measure the distance between a throne room and a cattle shed in Bethlehem?  How far is it from the Lordship of the universe to the cross?  Don’t be deceived into thinking there is no cost involved in obedience.”  (I copied this into my book diary years ago and regrettably forgot to copy the author.  Sounds like Elisabeth Elliott but I regret not ascribing appropriately this gem.)