Fourth: A Desire to Live a Different Life
You may feel an urge to change the lifestyle you’ve been living and follow God’s commands. That makes perfect sense because the Bible teaches us that when you accept Jesus Christ into your life and have your name written in His Book of Life, you are actually born again. You become a completely new person (2 Corinthians 5:17). It makes sense that as a new person, you would want to live a new life and not follow your old ways of living.
Some people in the Bible felt such a need to change their lifestyles that they gave up lucrative practices at great costs to themselves. Some people removed objects of great value from their homes because these objects were associated with lifestyles and practices that were not godly.
“Many of those who had become believers were coming, confessing and disclosing their [former sinful] practices. And many of those who had practiced magical arts collected their books and [throwing book after book on the pile] began burning them in front of everyone. They calculated their value and found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver.”—Acts 19:18-19 (AMP)
You may feel the same way about objects you possess that are linked with ungodly practices from your past. It may be very helpful to you to do a “house cleaning” and remove objects from your home that are tied to your past ungodly lifestyle, or things about which you just don’t have a good feeling.
The Apostle Paul gave us some very wise instructions about making lifestyle changes. He wrote these instructions in letters that are included in the New Testament.
“I have something from the Lord to tell you. I warn you: Don’t continue living like those who don’t believe. Their thoughts are worth nothing. They have no understanding, and they know nothing because they refuse to listen. So they cannot have the life that God gives. They have lost their feeling of shame and use their lives to do what is morally wrong. More and more they want to do all kinds of evil. But that way of life is nothing like what you learned when you came to know Christ. I know that you heard about him, and in him you were taught the truth. Yes, the truth is in Jesus. You were taught to leave your old self. This means that you must stop living the evil way you lived before. That old self gets worse and worse, because people are fooled by the evil they want to do. You must be made new in your hearts and in your thinking. Be that new person who was made to be like God, truly good and pleasing to him.
“So you must stop telling lies. ‘You must always speak the truth to each other,’ because we all belong to each other in the same body. ‘When you are angry, don’t let that anger make you sin,’ and don’t stay angry all day. Don’t give the devil a way to defeat you. Whoever has been stealing must stop it and start working. They must use their hands for doing something good. Then they will have something to share with those who are poor.
“When you talk, don’t say anything bad. But say the good things that people need—whatever will help them grow stronger. Then what you say will be a blessing to those who hear you. And don’t make the Holy Spirit sad. God gave you his Spirit as proof that you belong to him and that he will keep you safe until the day he makes you free. Never be bitter, angry, or mad. Never shout angrily or say things to hurt others. Never do anything evil. Be kind and loving to each other. Forgive each other the same as God forgave you through Christ.”—Ephesians 4:17-32 (ERV)
“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
“So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.”—Colossians 3:1-17 (NLT)
It can be overwhelming to try to change everything in your life at once, and it’s actually not effective. When God led the children of Israel to possess the promised land, He advised them that He would not move all of the ungodly inhabitants out of their lives all at once because that would leave an unhealhty void. Instead, He would lead them one step at a time to conquer one enemy at a time, so that they would not be overwhelmed.
“The LORD your God will drive those nations out ahead of you little by little. You will not clear them away all at once, otherwise the wild animals would multiply too quickly for you.”—Deuteronomy 7:22 (NLT)
Follow your conscience. God will pinpoint issues in your life, one by one, that He wants you to deal with next. Address those issues and make the changes that are needed in your life.
God does not intend for you to deal with all of these issues alone. You may not be able to conquer some issues in your life without help. Find close friends and small groups of believers who can be trusted. Become “accountability partners” with them. Make a plan to communicate with each other on a regular basis. Report your progress and struggles to each other honestly. As you become accountable to each other, you will find support and encouragement to help you overcome every issue that God pinpoints in your life.
“An enemy might be able to defeat one person, but two people can stand back-to-back to defend each other. And three people are even stronger. They are like a rope that has three parts wrapped together—it is very hard to break.”—Ecclesiastes 4:12 (ERV)
As you break free from bad habits and remove negative influences from your life, you will find new freedom to fully live the life you were meant to live—the life God intended for you to live. He has a “promised land” for you, just as He did for the Israelites. As you overcome the negative influences in your life, you will begin to possess more and more of the life that God desires for you to experience.
