Doing the Hard Work of Change

Have your New Year resolutions collapsed yet? Has your desire at the start of the year to grow in your faith been completely drained? If so you are not alone. The great thing about resolutions is they express the desire to change that many people have, whether its to lose weight, read the Bible more, grow in faith etc. We all know we are meant to be better than we are! And the thing that drives all this, the thing that makes all this so frustrating, is that we know that change is possible. We've seen it on the TV, we've read it in books and especially heard it in Church - people can change. I'm sure that right now you can think of a real life story of someone who has changed, maybe quite dramatically, in some way or other and you know deep inside you that if they can change so can you.

But here's why so many of us fail in making the change that we so long for - it's flipping hard work!

It seems to me there are some changes that God does for us but then there are some things that He looks for us to do. We are required to do the hard work of change. Yet too many of us (me included just give up when it gets hard. Recently, I watched two short TED talks (if you don't know what TED talks are you are missing an amazing resource check them out) by two professors that considered the physiology and psychology of improvement and change. Both essentially say the same thing that any kind of change is hard, but that it is actually the difficulty of the process that brings about change. Essentially it is through the difficulty that our minds create new neural pathways and so create changed behaviour. We need the hard work to rewire our minds to think and act differently. (You can watch the videos here and here).

So our experience says that change is possible, science says change is possible and of course God says change is possible.

Romans 12:2 says "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

There are plenty of other verses that encourage us to believe that change is possible. So if you are struggling with the hard work of bringing about the change that is needed in your life here are four thoughts to encourage you

1. Embrace the struggle - it is the hard work that is right now rewiring your brain for the change you desire
2. Everyone struggles - you are not alone in this. Even Paul, who wrote Romans 12, said that there were things he wanted to do but didn't do them and things he didn't want to do but couldn't help himself from doing them. So why not find someone else who is looking to make the same change as you to encourage one another and hold each other accountable. Don't face the hard work of change alone
3. Persevere - the people who change are the ones who face the hard work and do not give up. In one of the TED talks Angela Lee Duckworth says the only thing that separates people who are 'successful' from others is 'grit'. They are the people who overcome their shortcomings with simple hard work and perseverance.
4. Plan for change - change does not happen by accident it needs to be planned for and we need to be able to count the cost of change. In Luke 14 Jesus talks about counting the cost of being a disciple. Counting the cost means planning, organising your life around the change you want to make and understanding the sacrifices needed to see the change come into reality.