Young People's Group

The Challenge to Change

by Mitchell Tan
December 17, 2020

TIME AND CHANCE GIVEN TO ALL

The Lord has given to us time on earth and chances in life. What we do with them depends on the choices we make. At Youth Conference 2020, we learnt of how Saul had the chance of a lifetime to become the king of Israel. However, he disobeyed the Lord God and His commandments and did not follow through with His leading (1 Samuel 13-15). He had every opportunity for him to change. He was given a second chance to make good after he had failed. Chance after chance was given to him and yet, he continued to fail not just as a king. He chose not to obey the Lord and His commandments.

CHANGE

King Saul could have changed for the better. It is crucial that we learn about how to change. Pastor gave us this acronym with regards to change. What is C.H.A.N.G.E.?

C – CHECK, CONFESS

There is the need for us to do a careful and honest check of what is happening in our lives. If there are sins in our lives, we need to repent and confess them before the Lord and not hide them. We are to seek to make definite changes to our lives after we have confessed our sins.

H – HEART

The work of change must be from the inside out. It begins from within our hearts. The Lord needs to change us from the internal level of our hearts to the external deeds of our lives.

A – ANEW

The challenge is to learn to start anew. Old bad habits must be taken away. We must learn to have new habits of walking with the Lord and living for Him.

N – “NOW” MOMENT, NEAR TO GOD

“Now” is the moment to change. We are not to wait. If we want to change, we must seek to change now and not later. There must also be that close walk with the Lord. The Lord wants us to draw near to Him. When we are near enough to Him, we can tap into His understanding and grace.

G – GOD, GOALS

The Lord God should be our focus in our lives. With God as our focus, there must be goals that we want to achieve for Him. We would set goals that will help us live for Him and serve Him.

E – EVERYTHING GIVEN FOR US

The Lord has given us everything we need to change. He has given us the word, His grace and mercies, the Holy Spirit, pastors and teachers to run alongside us to help us grow. We have everything that we need to change. These things can help us to be excellent in all that we do for Him. The challenge for us is to change.

CHANCES AND CHANGE

Time and chance have been given to us. We are to make full use of them by seeking the Lord to change our hearts. God looks at the heart and not the outward appearance (1 Samuel 16:7). It has to begin from deep within our hearts. We can learn to be someone who is after God’s own heart. This was something that David had come to learn to have (1 Samuel 13:14). Let’s use our chances in life to grow and seek the Lord to change our hearts and lives.

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