Resolve to Make a Change from the Inside Out

Posted on Jan 23, 2020 Topic :
Posted by : Johnny Hunt

A friend once wrote an article about New Year’s resolutions that got picked up by USA Today. Approximately 75 percent of the adults surveyed for the article said they believed every person’s life had an ultimate purpose and plan. Almost 90 percent of respondents said they thought it was important to pursue a higher purpose and meaning in life, and 67 percent agreed with the statement, “A major priority in my life is finding my deeper purpose.”

Do you agree with that statement? Do you believe your life has a higher purpose and meaning?

The Bible makes it clear that finding and fulfilling your life’s purpose as a Christian ought to energize you. It ought to launch you out of bed each morning.

Everything you and I do should revolve around living out God’s purpose for our lives.

But what is that life’s purpose?

Do you know God’s purpose and calling for your life? Where is your life heading? Are you moving forward? Do you know where your current direction will take you?

Christians have no higher calling than to become like Christ. God created you and me to have a growing relationship with Him, and Jesus made this possible by applying His righteousness to our account through His work on the cross.

What would be the downside if you were to become like the One who died for you? How might your life benefit from becoming increasingly like Jesus?

Believers are to reflect Jesus’ attitudes (Philippians 2:4-5) and His actions (1 Peter 2:21-23). John claims that the man who says he abides in Jesus “ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:6). We are to “imitate” Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:6), as the Lord Himself told His disciples after He washed their dirty feet: “I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15).

Do you want to become increasingly like Jesus? That is God’s goal for you in this life, and it’s also His ultimate purpose for you in the life to come.

And how does the Lord plan to accomplish this miracle?

He intends to change you from the inside out, using the same divine tool He used to bring you into His family in the first place: grace.

The grace of God in Jesus Christ is our teacher. It’s our guide, our counselor. The moment we get saved, we immediately come under the tutelage of God through the Holy Spirit and His Word.

If you want to become more like Jesus, you can make a new kind of resolution—one that will not fail. And you can start with the knowledge that grace is the primary tool God uses to change you…from the inside out.