Power to Change:
The New Creation – Part 2

Scripture Reading:  2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Have you ever said to someone or to yourself: “I’ll never be able to change”?  Those words are usually said with tones of discouragement and defeat.  We’ve tried on our own to change the negative things that we don’t like about ourselves.  The apostle is trying to renew hope in every believer.  There are a few facts we need to consider about this change that God is doing in us.

The first fact about change is that it often is not according to our timetable.  All of us want instant change.  We would like God to “click His heels together” and make us perfect.  That seldom happens when it comes to God’s workmanship in our lives.  One man testified to 12 months of battling the smoking habit.  Another couple testifies to the fact that they had to go through 52 weeks of marital counseling before real change occurred.  God uses time to do His good work in us and we must be patient with His process for change.

The second fact is: change in us has a divine order.  What we might want God to change may not be at the top of God’s list.  Someone may want God to help them lose weight when God wants them to lose a bad attitude.  God is the “master carpenter” that knows what, when and what order He deems best for our change.  We must allow God his priorities for change.

Father, I will relax and wait patiently for your work in me!  Thank you that I can and will change for the better!  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.