Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Revelation 2:5
We’ve been talking about life transformation in our services and I’ve noticed that when it comes to getting honest about the things in our life that need to change we blame our sloppy Christian walk on some difficult person, an area of conflict, or some boulder that seems to have been dropped on our home or our marriage. In reality, God is coming to us through that hardship to advance our spiritual life. Notice He says in our text, Remember from where you have fallen, we don’t like where we are, but we don’t want to talk specifics when it comes to change, it’s easier to talk in generalities. I hear people tell me all the time, “I know I need to change”, but all the while dodging the specifics. Really what we are doing is just short-circuiting the whole life transformation process.
When we avoid pinpointing those areas that need to change through repentance it only goes in a steep, downward spiral. We need to see God’s desire to bring about the change in our lives that advances the agenda of Christ not our own. If you’re going to enjoy life and live it to its fullest for Christ you have to come face to face with the specifics He’s revealing to you and take your licks. This is the only way you learn and grow in Christ-likeness. There is always room for change and we never find ourselves in a place where we don’t need to grow anymore. That’s why we need to claim the promise found in Philippians 1:6 which says, “He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
God is always working in your life to make you more like His Son, to cause the characteristics of Christ to come to the surface. But that’s not going to happen until we humble ourselves under His mighty hand and allow Him to point out both specific sins, that have to go, and the specific good things that need to be added to our life. I think we miss that perspective a lot. Just think of that difficult situation that you’re in right now, so often we think, “Yeah, God—change them!” It doesn’t occur to us to think that God is trying to change us. I remind you that God’s process for change is not limited by a difficult person or circumstance. It’s limited by your own willingness to receive what God would teach you through the difficult trials we face.
Even after 26 years of preaching and ministering to people I’m reminded everyday that the challenges are not about some difficult person or painful circumstance. It is about the fact that as a Christian, everyone is watching you to see how you handle things. You are to be a light on a lamp stand in this dark world. You are surrounded everyday by people who are also going through painful situations, challenging situations and they want to know if change can really take place. They want to know if living a sold-out, abandoned faith in Christ really works.
So what about you? Are you ready to get specific and face the challenges that really bring about change in your life? There can be no true commitment to life change without humbling yourself under God’s mighty hand and getting specific. Not someday, something or somehow, but today what specific thing does God want to work on in you right now?
