Living Changed Lives

In Luke 3, the Bible says that John the Baptist was living in the wilderness when the Word of God came to him. Immediately he began to go up and down the Jordan valley preaching the need for repentance and began baptizing those who heeded his message. Crowds began to gather to hear his message. In verse 8, he looked at them and said, “Therefore produce fruit that is worthy of [and consistent with your] repentance [that is, live changed lives, turn from sin and seek God and His righteousness]” (AMP). John’s message was strong and clear. The message God gave him was that when we repent of our sins, our lives are to be different than they were before. The fruit that our lives produce should be different than it was before salvation. The only way to do that is to live a changed life that seeks God and follows His way of living.

In Romans 12, Paul’s message to us is the same message, but with practical examples of what that looks like. He starts off by telling us to be living sacrifices that lives transformed lives which don’t conform to the ways of the world. We are to bless those who cause us harm (verse 14), to live in harmony with other believers (verse 16), to not be conceited (verse 16), to live at peace with everyone (verse 18), to not take revenge on people (verse 19) and to overcome evil with good (verse 21). This serious of verses runs counter to the way we are hard wired. Paul was very clear throughout his letter that we are to live lives that are led by God’s Spirit rather than our flesh. Once we have repented, which means to turn around and go the other direction, our lives should be different than the way nonbelievers do.

In Ephesians 4:22-23, we are told to take off our old nature once we come to Christ because of its evil desires. To do that, he says that we need a renewing of our mind. Verse 24 then says, “Put on the new self [the regenerated and renewed nature], created in God’s image, [godlike] in the righteousness and holiness of the truth [living in a way that expresses to God your gratitude for your salvation].” Everything about us should begin to change once we accept Jesus starting with how we think. What motivates us is love for God and love for others. When we invite Jesus to be Lord of our life, we invite Him to turn our lives around. We accept His call to live lives that stand out in a world of people who live by every desire that pops in their mind. We are no longer to be driven by feelings, but by truth. We no longer seek our desires. Rather we are to seek out what God wants. Our lives will then be an expression of gratitude for salvation.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash