Allowing God to change you!

2 Cor 5:17 'Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone, a new life has begun.'
You are God's work of art – in process! A magnificent masterpiece that He will mould, shape and refine through life's up's and downs to make you the person He want's you to be. To have you reach your fullest potential and be all that you can be in Him!

The thought of God moulding and shaping us can be very upsetting to a lot of people, particularly those who see themselves as 'self-made', independent and strong. The thought that they are in need of change, that they may have to grow emotionally, spiritually and or mentally can be a severe knock to a person's ego and they will so often resist any thought of changing.

On a personal note, I can only tell you that God has, in so many ways, changed me for the better. Certainly, when I gave my life to God I felt that I was a good person, raising my sons on my own, strong-willed, independent and capable. What I was not prepared for was the things that I suddenly saw in my life that I realized were not pleasing to God. My temper for one thing! For such a tiny slip of a person (5'4" and only 58kgs), I was a force to be reckoned with when I got mad!! I remember having fetched all the children from school one day and my step-daughter commenting to me that my road-rage had gone! Then the others all started commenting on how previously I would have screamed at the car that had just cut in front of us, how I wasn't even swearing anymore! Wow!! I hadn't even noticed these things myself, but their comments certainly made me think about my behavior.

I know that the incident I have described above is rather small and inconsequential, and perhaps many of you have had more radical transformations than that, but it was that moment that was the turning point for me. It was this moment that made me realize that God had, already, without me being aware of it, started to transform my heart and, with this knowledge that He could change me without my conscious participation in the process, how much more could He do if I allowed Him to work in my heart?

I must admit that the process of allowing God to change me was not (sorry, IS not) always easy, but it is certainly worthwhile. The changes He has brought about have allowed me to release all my anger and bitterness, to learn to love myself (certainly the hardest battle) and to slowly start seeing that His plans and purposes for my life are far superior to any I may have had. I know that I am still taking baby-steps in my walk with the Lord, and that He still has LOTS of moulding and shaping to do to get me where He wants me to be, but I do know that I can trust Him through the process.