How to Change Your Life

The desire to "change your life" has made a major industry in the Western world. It is an industry that has spawned videos and talk shows. It has spawned books by the hundreds.

Many people want to change their lives, but they simply don't know how to do it. Change is frightening, and there is a fear of the unknown that often makes people cling to old behaviors, no matter how bad those behaviors are. People don't know how to go about changing their lives, even though there are many changes that people often want to make.

What is the real key? There are two primary keys that are focused on in Scripture. They are called faith and repentance. You cannot change a problem that you don't see. Before you change it, you have to see it—and when you see it, you have to be willing to admit it. Then you have to desire to make it different. If those three points are not there, change never even gets started.

Most people have no clue as to what repentance really is. They may think in terms of regret or remorse. They may think in terms of penance, but to repent in the biblical sense is to turn around and go the other way. One of the main barriers that stands in the way of repentance is that human nature is very deceitful. The prophet Jeremiah wrote: "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9).

How do you change your life? What direction do you go? If you are serious about wanting to change your life, then you need to go to the only source that can explain to you the direction in which your life needs to go. There is a source—your Creator's "instruction book"—that lays out a pattern of life. You need to go to the Creator and ask Him to help you really see yourself, not making excuses or passing on the blame, but seeing yourself, admitting things to yourself, and desiring to change. If you believe your Creator's instruction book—if you really believe it from the heart—it will give you a direction that will enable you to change your life.

[If this message has been helpful to you, the Tomorrow's World editorial staff recommends: The Bible: Fact or Fiction?, What is a True Christian? and the incredible article, "Is There an Unpardonable Sin?" There is true hope—far more than you may ever have expected.]