Change is a hard thing.  We always think “I don’t need changing.  Change him!”  I was taking notes in a journal on the way to dinner this past weekend, and I noted that the journal I grabbed was an old prayer journal I started 2 years ago.   It only had 5 prayer entries in it.  Prayer for my mom (who had Non Hodgkins Lymphoma at the time), prayer for my FIL’s health, prayer for my MIL’s health, prayer for my Dad that God would protect his heart from Satan while helping Mom undergo her chemo, and finally prayer for my husband…. and that prayer entry went like this…. “Help me to accept DH the way he is and not try to change him.  I realize in some ways he may never change, but at the same time, I release him to change in ways I never thought he could.  I leave any changing that needs to be done in Your hands, fully accepting that neither of us is perfect, and never will be.   Only you, Lord, are perfect and I look to you to perfect us. “  Looks like I was reading Power of a Praying Wife at the time!

Changing ourselves is hard.  Really hard.   But if we look at it as changing us to be more like Christ, it can be easier.  I mean, as Christians, we should all strive to be more like Christ every day of our lives.  Living out the greatest commandment, to love one another.  Stormie listed seven ways to be more like Christ.   We can all learn something from these as well.

1.  Jesus was loving.  Jesus wants us to lay down out lives for others.  His love worked miracles and it can work miracles in our lives and those who we show love to.   My biggest problem?  showing love to my family when I come home from work.  I word so hard to show love for others at work that I don’t have a full “love tank” when I get home.  I need to work on that.

2.  Jesus was humble.  Humility is a rare commodity in our world today.  Look at Tim Tebow.   What a humble man, who gives all the glory to God in public for everything he does.  And he gets made fun of.  People are so into themselves in the world, that seeing someone who does act humbly makes them feel awkward, so they have to ridicule him.    Jesus was Lord of the Universe, yet he chose to come to earth as a mere mortal.  It takes someone really humble to give up everything Christ had in heaven.   Pray for a humble heart like our Lord’s.

3.  Jesus was faithful.  He was faithful all the way to the cross.   He never stumbled.   He knew why he was here.  We need to know all about his faithfulness, so that we can learn ourselves how to be faithful.

4.  Jesus was giving.   He gave his power to heal people.  He gave his time to anyone who would listen.  He gave his life to save the people he loved…all of us.   When we don’t feel that we have anything to give, God shows us what we have that we can give to others.    Pray for God to bestow upon you gifts in which you can share with others.

5.  Jesus was separate.   I like the way she put it… He was in the world, but not part of the world.   He came to touch the world, but never became like the world.  He was separate from the world, but he changed the world.   While we are in the world, we cannot lose sight of our goal.  This world is temporary.  We cannot become like the world because it won’t last.   Don’t lose sight of where you are going.  Keep eternity in your perspective.

6.  Jesus was obedient.  Jesus never did anything on his own.  He always prayed to the Father and waited on His Word.   We must be like that too.  We can be so impatient.  The world has made us that way.  If we wait on the Lord, we can be truly blessed.   We must be obedient to the Lord when he does give us instruction.   Jonas learned the hard way what happens when you aren’t obedient to the Lord.  He spent some time in the belly of a whale!   We need God’s help to learn to die to ourselves, so we can live for him.

7.  Jesus was light.  As a moth is attracted to the light, so must we be attracted to God’s light.   We should be the light to this dark world.   We need to be the light, so we can attract those out of the darkness to the light, to learn more about Jesus.   Let you light shine.

Pray that God would start a work in you, right now, as you read this.  Ask him to help you learn to be more like his Son.   Ask him to help you separate yourself from the world and be a light to all who would see it.   Pray to learn how to be humble and be a servant to all as Jesus was.  Pray for faithfulness, obedience, and a giving spirit.   Pray that you will be a person that people see and want to learn more about Jesus because of the way you live your life.  Keep your eyes on Jesus and eternity.  We are only here for a short while.