A long time ago, in a land not too far away, I was at Bible College in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma when the school had a guest speaker whose name was Edwin Louis Cole. Mr Cole’s ministry was predominantly oriented towards men, but he was a powerful, insightful teacher to any gender who had ears to hear.
I can’t tell you the title of his message to the students at Rhema Bible College, but I remember one statement like it was yesterday, even though it has actually been over forty years ago. In his message he stated, “Change isn’t change until there’s change.” For some reason, those few simple words have stuck with me all this time. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t always like change, however, I do realize that without change, there can be no growth.
Here’s the point I want to make! Many times, we confuse hoping for change, praying for change, thinking about change, and talking about change as things that equate to change. The fact is, none of these noble things do. While it is good to hope for, pray for, think about, and talk about change, unless we put intentions into practice, we are only deceiving ourselves into thinking growth is happening.
Change is the one thing that measures itself. Change is noticeable. Growth is measured by change, not by the desire to grow.
So, what is it that thing or area of your life that you are hoping for growth in? What are you praying for change in. I’m sure you’ve heard of the saying, “ If you want something you’ve never had, DO something you’ve never done!” Don’t just pray, think, hope and talk about fulfilling your dreams and desires.
Step out of your usual, typical way of doing life and change something. Take a class, seek help, find a counselor. If you want change, do something that change can measure. Because CHANGE ISN’T CHANGE UNTIL THERE’S CHANGE!