Thursday, July 23, 2009

Slow Growth


“The Lord your God will drive those
nations out ahead of you little by
little. You will not clear them away
all at once”

Deuteronomy 7:22 NLT



Although God could instantly transform us,
He has chosen to develop us slowly. Jesus
is deliberate in developing His disciples.

Why does it take so long to change and grow up?
There are several reasons.

We are slow learners. We often have to relearn a
lesson forty or fifty times to really get it. The
problems keep recurring, and we think, “Not again!
I’ve already learned that!”—but God knows better.
The history of Israel illustrates how quickly we
forget the lessons God teaches us and how soon we
revert to our old patterns of behavior. We need
repeated exposure.

We have a lot to unlearn.Since most of our problems
(and all of our bad habits)didn’t develop overnight,
it’s unrealistic to expect them go away immediately.

There is no pill, prayer, or principle that will instantly
undo the damage of many years. It requires the hard work of
removal and replacement. The Bible calls it “taking off the
old self” and “putting on the new self”
(Romans 13:12; Ephesians 4:22-25; Colossians 3:7-10, 14).

Growth is often painful and scary. There is no growth without
change; there is no change without fear or loss; and there is
no loss without pain. We fear these losses, even if our old ways
were self-defeating, because, like a worn out pair of shoes, they
were at least comfortable and familiar.

Every change involves a loss of some kind: You must let go of
old ways in order to experience the new.


~Rick Warren~
from: PurposeDriven.com

2 comments:

  1. Very good.....particularly like the fifth paragraph (there is no pill....)

    ReplyDelete