Be Open To Change - And Pursue It!

Be Open To Change - And Pursue It!
Let patience have its perfect work.
James 1:4 NKJV

A letter was returned to the Post Office. Handwritten on the envelope were the words, 'He's dead.' Through an oversight the letter was inadvertently sent to the same address again. Again it was returned to the Post Office with yet another message: 'He's still dead!' Let's be honest; most of us resist change. We desire improvement, but we don't want to pay the price for it. And that's a problem, because we will never become what God intends us to be by remaining what we are. It's not enough to be open to change, we need to pursue it.

If you're serious about changing your life, Dr John Maxwell says: 'Don't just change enough to get away from your problems - change enough to solve them. Don't change your circumstances to improve your life - change yourself to improve your circumstances. Don't do the same old things expecting different results - get different results by doing something new. Don't see change as something hurtful that must be done - see it as something helpful that can be done. Don't avoid paying the immediate price tag of change - if you do, you will pay the ultimate price of never improving.' James writes: 'When your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing' (James 1:3-4 NLT). Character building is a slow process; it happens day-by-day. Whenever we try to escape life's difficulties we short-circuit the process, delay our growth, and end up with a worse kind of pain; the worthless type that accompanies denial and. avoidance. So, be open to change; and pursue it!