outside in, inside out

It’s often hard to see how ‘theories’ of change expressed the Bible and Christian belief are played out in real life, especially the idea of real, lasting change in our lives and behaviours. Tim Chester, in his book ‘You can change’ reminds us that Jesus taught that rubber-hitting-the-road change is rooted in the heart. He writes  ‘The root cause of my behavior is always, always the heart. What we see is behaviour and emotions, and it’s easy to focus on changing behaviour and emotions. But lasting change is achieved only by tackling their source – the heart.’

 It’s not really rocket science, since in other areas of our lives this principle is played out all the time. As kids playing hide and seek, once we understand people can see us even if our eyes are closed we actually start hiding. Once we understand reality from a different perspective our actions change, so seeing life from God’s perspective is certainly going to transform us.

 Jesus says: “ No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit…the good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart…’ (Luke 6:43ff). And Colossians follows with: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (3:1-2). It’s so great that we worship a God who wants us to change and has given us everything we need to do so!