Today in God’s Word

Today in God's Word—March 2023

East Tallassee Church of Christ

March 19, Galatians 1

Do people ever change? We know change is swift and unavoidable in the world around us. But we’re sometimes skeptical about people changing. We’ve been jaded by repeated disappointments. It’s a cycle— someone does wrong, the perpetrator admits it, seeks forgiveness with tears and pledges to change. Tender hearts believe the emotional promises and once again extend trust, only to be hurt again when the person does the same thing, completing the circle of frustration. Maybe our skepticism about change comes from looking in the mirror. We’ve know we’ve broken our word about what we would always or never do again.

Paul, by his name, is a testimony to the possibility and reality of dramatic, lasting change. Saul, the arch persecutor of Christians became Paul the apostle of Christ, employing the same tenacious spirit in spreading the gospel he once applied to stopping it. He described how the Judean Christians heard about him after his conversion: “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”

Although personal experience may suggest otherwise, change is real and possible. Today’s portion suggests some key factors in producing changed lives.

A person finds power to make radical change by accepting God’s call on his life. From the opening words of this letter, Paul stressed that he was sent (the meaning of the word “apostle”) on this mission. He realized God had set him apart for the mission of preaching the gospel to the

Gentiles before he was born. Believing God has a purpose for our lives and that he can accomplish it through us is powerful motivation to get in line and stay in line with that purpose.

Awareness and appreciation for the price God paid to redeem us is another incentive to change. Jesus had to die to deliver us from evil. Shouldn’t that motivate us to change? What a callous insult to divine love and grace to keep living the old way after Jesus gave himself to get us out of it! The core message of the gospel should convince us of the wickedness of willful disobedience. It was no light thing Jesus did at the cross. But a so-called disciple whose life is not changed takes for granted what Jesus did on his behalf.

Another powerful catalyst for a new life is choosing whose approval we seek. Peer pressure melts in the bright light of having God’s approval. Pleasing ourselves loses its appeal when pleasing God means more to us. That is genuine self-denial. We serve the one we seek to please. When God’s approval means more to us than pleasing others or ourselves, we will be changed for the better and for good.

When willpower and guilt have failed, if you doubt it’s possible to change, remember Paul and the remarkable change in his life. The same factors that changed him can change you, too.

From The Abiding Companion: A Friendly Guide for Your Journey Through the New Testament, Copyright © 2010 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.