How Real Change Happens

I’ve noticed that a lot of people treat their dogs as though they were humans. They dress them up in humiliating outfits. They buy food for them that looks like people food because they think their dogs will actually appreciate that. And worst of all, they push their dogs around in strollers.

The reality is that a dog would prefer to just do what dogs do, like eat roadkill, drink toilet water, and chase cats. That’s because you can’t change the nature of an animal. The Bible even says, “Can a leopard take away its spots?” (Jeremiah 13:23 NLT).

That brings us to a question: Can people change, or are we just victims of fate?

I think people can change. But we can’t change ourselves any more than a drowning man can save himself.

Sometimes, however, we think that if we change the outside, it will be different on the inside. Or if we lived in a new place, our lives would be better. Or if we made some new friends, we’d be better people.

But those things won’t change who we are on the inside.

Maybe you’ve tried to break free from the power of alcohol or turn away from a lifestyle of drugs. Maybe you’ve tried to live a sexually pure life. And maybe you’ve tried to be a better person. But none of it has really worked.

That’s because the problem is within. Some people say the answer is within, but actually the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart.

The Bible tells us that the heart (that is, who we are on the inside) is “the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9 NLT).

But the good news is that God can change you on the inside. God can change your heart.