As I listened to the news reports over this weekend in response to the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump, one thing stood out to me and that was the number of news channels and individuals who said that the current political dialogue and climate needs to change. There were those who said that the statements made against the former president were, in part, what led to this weekend’s events. Several government officials seem to have implied, at least as I understood them to mean, that they will change their approach in how they speak moving forward. At the risk of sounding skeptical, it is great to hear these revelations made in the midst of a tragic situation in which one person lost their life saving his family and two more were in critical, but now, stable care, yet it is another to really have those changes to take place permanently where a person really changes how they speak and act. Political leanings aside, I wonder, if that situation is enough to truly change people who hold strong views on people, on political issues, on how they view the world to bring forth a change within them that will last.
On account of the events in Pennsylvania, I started to wonder how this relates to my faith and how I live it out as a disciple of Jesus Christ. When I first made the profession of faith in Jesus as my Savior, I was “on-fire” to share my faith with others and to allow it to change how I lived. Jesus meant everything to me and the thought of a life transformation – a new creation – was awesome! However, looking back, as I got older, in some ways, though I still was passionate about my faith and love for the Lord, I found that some of those changes that I made as a teenager did not really take hold and I went back to the way I used to be, no longer living as a new creation transformed by Christ. The temptation of life and the culture urging within society sometimes took my focus off of the call of the gospel. I cared more about being cool and accepted by society than I did by God.
This is the struggle we often face as Christians, to no longer live as we once did – with old attitudes, behaviors, actions, mindsets – but to experience that is offered in Jesus, “to become new creations where the old has passed away.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) This is the reality of giving our life to Christ, 2,000 years ago a history altering event took place when Jesus, the Son of God, walked out of the tomb and walked out on death. In that moment, God offered all those who believe to be changed and temporarily, but experiencing a change that will last indefinitely. If there are things in your life that you hold on to, old ways of thinking and doing, I pray you offer them over to God to experience release in order to enjoy a changed heart, a changed mind and changed life because in today’s world, people need to see and hear the good news of Jesus in order to experience that life changing experience.
God bless you,
