I was at church this past Sunday (ok, I'm at church almost every Sunday). As the pastor as usual made some great points about life. This week he said something that really got me thinking, not only about myself but others too. Here's what he said:
"Jesus wants to change your heart not your circumstances."
Religious or not religious, almost everyone I know prays. They usually pray for a change of circumstance, situation or something. They pray when not so good things happen, but rarely pray when good things are happening. Many people just pray for stuff (house, money, care, health, etc) I normally pray for focus, energy, follow through and drive.
"Change your heart"....This is so true. We all watch reality TV and you see people with major problems in their life...financial, emotional, spiritual, relational, etc...you know what I'm talking about. They go to some specialist or guru to have their life or situation changed. The best results are seen by the people who change their heart or their way of thinking. Changing their heart changes their circumstances.
The people who only change their circumstances but don't change their heart more often than not end up back in the same circumstances. I watched a documentary called "Broke" last week. It's about professional athletes who made millions of dollars and end up broke after their career is over. The common story was the athletes financial circumstances changed over night, but their hearts and minds didn't. They're hearts really changed when the saw how much money they lost. Several former athletes were now mentoring younger athletes on how to better take care of their finances to prepare themselves for life after sports.
Many of us go through tough times in our lives. Trust me I've had my fair share. I prayed for things to change, but what I needed to pray for was for me to change. We have to look at the circumstances we're in. If it's a good circumstance, you have to be thankful of the situation and really appreciate where you are. Be sure to wake up every morning and say, "thank you" and "please keep my heart and my mind in the right place."
If you're circumstances aren't the way you like them, then you need to look in the mirror and ask yourself, what do I need to change about myself or the people, places or things I surround myself. Many times our circumstance change and we think everything will be good, then we get hit like a freight train when the not so good circumstance shows its ugly head again.
It's not about changing the circumstance, it's about changing our heart, our attitude and our actions. It's like the people on the weight loss surgery shows. They have this surgery that's supposed to change their lives. They have their surgery and loose lots of weight. A few years later the weight is back plus more. Why? They never addresses what was in their heart that caused the weight issue in the first place.
You see people who win the lottery then loose all the money only years later. Why? Their circumstance changed but not their hearts. They never addressed their spending or financial problems.
Why am I blogging about this? We are about 1/3 of the way through 2014. We started the year with big goals on how we we're going to make this "The Year." Now many of those goals aren't looking possible. We're getting down. We're starting to settle back into our old ways. Our circumstances aren't changing the way we dreamed they would or at the rate we wanted them too. Many of your goals are still possible. Your circumstances can change, but first you have to look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself..."Do I have it in my heart to change?" My faith has changed my heart. What will help you change your heart? Once your heart changes, your circumstances will change.
Have a GREAT week everyone!
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