TransformedSample

Change Takes Time

By Rick Warren

“Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24 ESV).

When God wants to remove the defects in your life, he doesn’t just snap his fingers so that it happens instantly. He does it incrementally. When God wants to make a mushroom, he takes six hours. But when God wants to make an oak tree, he takes 60 years.

Do you want to be a mushroom or an oak tree?

The Holy Spirit will make changes in your life far beyond anything you thought was possible, but they’re not going to happen overnight. My prayer for you is that through the work of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, and with support from your small group, you will be more mature, more Christlike, and further along in your purpose one year, five years, and ten years from today.

My prayer is that you will be stronger emotionally, physically, spiritually, psychologically, and financially — but you have to be intentional about it. The Bible says, “Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24 ESV).

This is how we become more like Jesus. The Apostle Paul says, “As the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him” (2 Corinthians 3:18b TLB).