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Incremental Changes Expected

The love of Christ controls us, because we know that One died for all, so all have died. Christ died for all so that those who live would not continue to live for themselves. He died for them and was raised from the dead so that they would live for him. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

The love of Christ is supposed to compel us to live right - to make good choices and respond well to life's challenges. The truth about how most of us live is somewhere between that point and doing things on our own without much thought as to what Christ would want or do. We aren't living quite as close to sin's pull as we once were, but we haven't quite figured out how to get to the point where we are consistently seeking Christ's best for our lives. Don't be down on yourself - you are not alone in this struggle! You have many a traveling companion on that journey!

Christ asks for us to lean into his love, but do we know what that really looks like? I think it means that we see incremental changes in our lives that all add up to us living a little bit less for ourselves and living for him - pursuing his purposes, seeing the needs of others and working to meet them. Hopes and dreams may change a little as we begin to see these changes happening within us. Why? There will be some that don't really matter anymore, others will be clarified a little, and new ones will begin to be formed within us. Priorities will change, almost imperceptibly at first. Before you even realize it, you are making different choices, listening more to hear his voice, and responding out of a 'different place' in your life. That place? His heart beating within you.

Don't underestimate the changes occurring within your heart, mind, and soul. They are there, even though they may not be easily perceived on the surface. Christ's first mission is to get us comfortable with his love - that limitless grace he gives, his unending power displayed on our behalf, and that sense of freedom that lifts the weight of sin off our shoulders. Slowly, but surely, he leads us into new places of joy, peace, and security until one day we are living a new life completely - a life of grace and love. Just sayin!

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