True change

Psalm 80:1-7
Isaiah 42:10-18
Hebrews 10:32-39

Morning appointments and time to think and write seem to be mutually exclusive for me. And to make it worse, the early morning rushing around and going was for naught, because my holiday-addled brain got the time wrong, and we missed the appointment. It left me kind of kicking myself for much of the remaining day.

We all have personal expectations for how we should live and act and think. I don't think I'm wrong when I say that not a single one of us lives up to our own personal expectations. Isn't that why there are shelves and shelves of books about this very topic every year? How to be a better you... How to ditch those expectations because they're not good for you, girl... How to accept and love yourself. The trouble is, all of this advice is written by flawed, human authors. It's only going to go so far, because like its authors, the advice is flawed. It can't truly change us.

Only God can do that. Only a perfect being can offer what we truly seek: to be made new. This is what Jesus offers. Total forgiveness for our flaws, the ones we work so hard to change. Even better, Jesus offers something more. By following Him, we are offered true change from the inside. Lasting change. It will be written in our hearts and on our minds.

Jesus was born at Christmas as the start to the fulfillment of God's promise to allow us, a changed and holy people, to live with Him forever. Self-help books don't work because we cannot help ourselves no matter how hard we try. We need God's help. He offers the only true and lasting change.

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