Change begins within. As a child of God we live from the inside out.
We must become healthy on the inside before we are truly healthy on the outside. Phil. 2:12-13 says, “…Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” God works within us, and we must work out our own salvation by living from the inside out! Everything you receive from God works that way.
It starts on the inside, and then change comes on the outside. You cannot see someone being born again, but you should see the effects in their life and lifestyle.
We have to understand what happened to us when we were born again. We look the same, we think the same—so what happened? “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22, NKJV). Adam and Eve lost fellowship with God because they were disobedient.
The good news is, what was lost in the Garden of Eden was restored in the Garden of Gethsemane! Communication is now restored between the person who has received Jesus Christ. “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:11-12, NKJV).
As a child of God you must learn what is available to you through your birthright. How do you do this? You renew your mind with the Word of God. “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but be a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think. Then you will learn from your own experience how His ways will really satisfy you” (Rom. 12:2, TLB).
Our body reflects the daily choices that we make, so we must stop confusing our body by constantly changing our mind.
Once we make a choice, we become the servant to that choice. “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” (Rom. 6:16, NKJV).
Choices determine conduct and character. We alone are responsible for the choices we make. For example, poor food choices can become like a drug, sabotaging our body, draining our mental energy and making us feel hopeless.
Joyce Tilney is an author, speaker and founder of Women of God Ministries.
