When is your birthday? If it’s today, happy birthday.
I had one recently, and it seems like the more birthdays I have, the more I find myself looking back and thinking about how much has changed over the years. Not just how the world has changed, but how I have changed too.
When I was in college, I knew I needed to lose weight and make some healthier choices, so I grabbed a book and started learning how to eat differently. Before Caryn and I got married, we went through a financial course that helped us get on the same page and changed the way we thought about money. A lot of those things still shape how we live today.
As I look back, the most meaningful growth in my life did not happen by accident. It usually started when I was willing to let something reshape the way I think.
And that is definitely true spiritually.
I can still see places in my life where God wants to change the way I think and live. One example for me is loving my neighbor as I love myself. I know how to look out for myself. I know how to protect my time, my comfort, and my needs. But showing that same level of care and concern for someone else is where I can fall short.
Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
That word transformed is what I keep coming back to. God is not just trying to slightly improve me or help me manage a few bad habits. He is reshaping me from the inside out, and that means I have to stay open to the places where He still wants to work.
So maybe the prayer is simple: Lord, do not let me become rigid about the things You still want to reshape in me. Keep renewing my mind. Keep changing my heart. Keep making me more like You.