There is a saying that “the only one who likes change is a wet baby.”

We all know that change is part of life … an inevitable and necessary part of life. Children get older. Trees grow. Cars and computers eventually get outdated and need to be replaced. Science makes new discoveries. Medicine advances.

Why then do we resist change?

Obviously, not all change is good change. I think we tend to hold on to “the way things were” for several reasons: (a) we worked hard to get where we did and we want to preserve that, (b) there is a level of comfort and control where we are, (c) change requires more energy and effort that we simply don’t have time for.

Is there a healthy way for Christians to approach change? Can we create a culture in which change is not anxiety or fear producing, but instead welcome change, evaluate it, and determine how to approach it?

This week

In your daily devotions this week, make a list of the changes that you are dealing with or that are on the horizon. Pay attention to your reactions to these changes – are you excited, nervous, angry, eager? Did you initiate any of these changes or did someone else initiate them? Does that make a difference? Is there a way to be part of the decisions or implementation of the change?

Read the following:

• Luke 9:18-36 – The story of the Transfiguration. How does this story relate to change?
• Luke 12:22-32 – Don’t worry
• The article below “What Really Causes Leaders to Change”
• Watch the music video “Waiting on the World to Change” by John Mayer

What Really Causes Leaders to Change

www.churchleaders.com
by Brian Dodd

No one likes change but a baby. That is one of my favorite statements because people naturally resist change, but it is desperately needed.

In addition to leading organizations that must constantly change, leaders must individually go through that process as well.

This past Sunday, Senior Pastor Marlan Harris of New Life Church delivered a message to the congregation of Fellowship Bible Church on the subject of change. As I listened to Pastor Harris speak, I felt the principles were applicable to anyone in leadership. See if you don’t agree.

The primary ingredient needed for change in a person, church or business is repentance.

We hate the way things are and the things that we do. True repentance causes us to change three things:

Change Our Mind — The things we think about.
Change Our Heart — The things we love and the things we hate.
Change Our Hands — The things we do.

Repentance involves not only stopping certain habits and behaviors, but also starting new ones.

Change in a person or organization rarely happens by choice. Rather, it results from a cause.

There are three things God uses to cause us to change.

Leaders, regardless of your faith system, pay attention to this list.

1. Deep Love.
Sometimes leaders simply lose their way. We become so task driven that we wind up in a place we never expected. It is in that unexpected territory that we hear the voice of someone we love or respect coaching us, begging us, pleading with us and, yes, loving us to change.

2. Deep Loss.
Loss happens when our value as leaders has been diluted. Loss happens when something of value has been lost. Loss happens when you personally are in an environment of filth and uncleanliness. You have a deep sense of loss when you are forced to utter the words, “I (or you or we) are better than this!”

3. Deep Lack.
Lack is having something in the bank, but it doesn’t satisfy your heart. Lack is having a big house, plenty of food and the corner office, but you feel empty. Lack is what happens within you, not around you. True sadness is also when you have nothing and God won’t give you anything.

When you or your church, business or team have Deep Love, Deep Loss or Deep Lack, then it is time to change.