Sometimes we know or are involved with people, whether family, colleagues or friends, who, according to Biblical standards, make immoral choices and live immoral lives. Our viewpoint on what is immoral differs from them, with ranging from it is fine to tell lies, getting drunk beyond remembering anything, being dishonest to gain favour, sexual encounters with various partners and having affairs whilst married.
At no means am I judging anyone, but merely referring to every day, real-life examples. We face such encounters on a regular basis, having many people in this world, not knowing Christ and even if they know about Him, they are not in a personal relationship with Him. Hence, they also do not spend time in God’s Word, getting to know His heart, His teachings on how to live their lives, to receive abundant blessings and what the future holds.
Are you currently part of someone’s life, where they are facing the things I mentioned in the paragraph above? Perhaps you have prayed for such people, but you see no change in the way they think or do things. Today, I want to give you some bad and good news. The bad news is, that you can’t change them. Yes, you can and should teach, coach and mentor them, but you can’t change them. The good news is, Jesus Christ can change them. Amen! They need a change of heart so that their minds can be renewed. They need an encounter with Jesus. Let me share some scriptures:
Proverbs 4:23: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
Matthew 12:34: “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouthspeaks what the heart is full of.”
Romans 12:2: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Ezekiel 36:25 – 27: “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.””
When we read in the Book of Acts, about Saul’s conversion, he persecuted Christians, had them arrested and thrown in jail, which probably ended in them being killed. He definitely was not thinking clearly, and it took an encounter with Jesus, for Him to have his heart renewed. Only once He met Jesus and got a new heart, did his way of thinking change. He then, as Paul, based on his own experiences, could write to warn us, guide us and teach us about the right way to think and live, according to God’s principles of Christian living.
One last point before I conclude. We need to remember that when people’s minds are not renewed by Christ, through salvation in Him, they become their own blessing blocker. However, once their hearts change in Christ, then their minds change, and that is when they no longer want to live immoral lives. There is simply no further desire for the wrong and they can then, through the Spirit of Discernment, discern what is in God’s will and what is not.
It is also then, after the renewing of their hearts and minds, that the blessings start to flow in their lives (Ezekiel 36:28 – 38, Deuteronomy 28:1 – 14). These are not worldly favour that can be taken from them, but Godly blessings which are in abundance, is never ending and can’t ever be taken from them.
In closing, let us not get despondent or give up on those who are still in the world, not thinking with the mind of Christ. Let us continue to pray for the changing of their hearts, not judging them, but loving them and being good examples on how people with a new heart in Christ should think and live. In Jesus name, pray the Word of God into their hearts and stand firm in your faith in God, that their change of heart, will come. Amen!
Love in Christ,
Princess K