HE can change who you are

I know it may seem silly to some, and maybe it is just a sign of me going into middle age, but it doesn't take much to make me cry. One day I was listening to K-LOVE on the radio (and as a total and complete aside, if you don't listen to K-LOVE, I invite you to take their 30-day challenge to listen to nothing but Gospel music and see the impact on your life). And by the way, Ms. Martin, my English teacher from high school, would kill me for that last sentence I wrote, if it is even a complete sentence. Anyway, I truly digress! :)

So I was listening to the radio and this guy came on and gave his testimony. He had been sober for 12 years and he was celebrating his anniversary of being off the bottle. You could hear  him getting choked up, and I could just feel the emotion welling up in my chest as I listened to him talk about his life--the man he was and the man he is now. After that, I just had to turn off my radio and praise God. And then I began to pray for him, thanking God for my brother in Christ and rejoicing that one day in heaven we will get to meet and I can just celebrate with him that work that Christ did his life.

But then my heart grew heavy, and I thought of two others I had learned of recently...one a young lady struggling with addiction, another a young man diagnosed with anxiety and depression. Not likely comparisons in many ways, but here is where their stories intersected for me with the man on the radio.

You can struggle with things in your life, and yes, at the end of it, or maybe I should say, at the beginning or root of it all, is the spiritual battle. Ephesians 6:12 reminds us: "For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places."

The power of addiction is something I cannot truly grasp, nor can I truly appreciate the struggle of those who deal with depression, but I do believe that at the root there has to be some desire to live life differently than the one you slog out from day to day.

That choice may not be the one that heals you, or delivers you, or changes your life completely on the first time, but there has to be a decision to take that first step...to get counseling, to get meds, to just honor the people who are in that struggle with you...those in your corner that want to see you well and made whole.

But it could also be other lifestyle choices that keep us in bondage...the decision to stay in a bad relationship, the decision to continue to hang with friends that drag us down, the decision to continue bad  habits and attitudes that are corrosive to our spirits, the decision to disobey the very basic truths of God's Words that He has put in our hearts.

The good news is we can change who we are. We can make that choice. Unspoken has a song that has such a powerful word of encouragement. The chorus says: "You can never fall too hard, so fast, so far, that you can't get back when you're lost. Where you are is never too late, so bad, so much that you can't change who you are." 

We all have that power available to us. And I love how they end that song...it's at the foot of the cross you can change it, who you are, you can change. I believe that anything can be changed at the foot of the cross. We cannot overcome any problem in our lives without the power of Christ to sustain us and give us lasting victory. HE can change who we are. Not matter how large the issue or seemingly insignificant, Christ Himself intercedes on our behalf everyday believing that we were worth dying for. Through His blood, we can change!

WOW...that is a WOW moment...now...back to K-LOVE! :)

Click HERE to watch Unspoken "Who You Are"