I’M SO BLESSED to have an awesome big brother. John Luke continues to challenge me to be the best I can be every day. Don’t get me wrong, when we were younger we did our share of pestering each other, but now it’s all good and I can say he’s one of my best friends. All through high school, John Luke was constantly challenging himself to change in some way. For a while, he would brush his teeth with his left hand or play Ping-Pong left-handed, even though he is right-handed. I know it sounds like a simple change, but he read somewhere that when we challenge ourselves to make little changes, our brain gets some much-needed exercise. Our hearts and actions need to change too.
For some of us, change is easy. It fits our personality. For others, it’s difficult. But for all of us, change will happen whether we choose it or it is chosen for us. So, today, think of an area in your life that you could improve on or where you need a new challenge, and then do what you can to take steps toward that change. Only you decide what gets changed. Don’t wait for someone else to make important changes about your life.
Maybe you’ve been hanging around people who steer you away from Jesus, or you’ve gotten into the bad habit of hateful thoughts or negative talk. Perhaps you just need to change your morning routine to include some God-time. What is it? Today is the day to take that first step.
What Does the Bible Say about It?
James 1:23–24 (NIV) Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
I love this verse. I know it doesn’t have the word “change” in it, but it’s all about change. The book of James is written by Jesus’ half-brother James. (Can you imagine having Jesus for a brother? No pressure there, right?) The Bible says that James wasn’t a follower of Jesus when Jesus was alive and walking the earth (look at John 7:5), but later James came to believe that his brother was God’s own Son.
When James talked about change, he spoke from personal experience. He knew what it was like to look in the “mirror” of his heart and see what needed to be changed. And when he saw the resurrected Jesus, he changed from being a skeptic to a believer. His book, the book of James, is full of wisdom about how to live a Christian life. He understood that if you truly believe in Jesus Christ as God’s Son, and that He died on a cross for your sins, you will experience changes in your life—good changes that will bless you and bring God glory.