Become willing to change (1)

Recognise that without change, there can be no progress. Now, we’re not advocating change for its own sake. That can be a characteristic of restlessness and a symptom of inner conflict. Change can represent great opportunities as well as potential losses. Although all progress produces change, not all change produces progress. But as American leadership expert Max DePree observed, ‘We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.’ If you want to grow, you must be willing to change. American General Douglas MacArthur, hero of the Pacific War, said, ‘Life is a lively process of becoming. If you haven’t added to your interests within the past year, if you are thinking the same old thoughts, relating the same personal experiences, having the same predictable reactions, rigor mortis of the personality has set in.’ Did you get that last sentence? Rigor mortis is the physical rigidity that sets in after death. And it can happen to you relationally, career-wise, and spiritually.

In 1 Timothy 4, Paul is mentoring his spiritual son Timothy to take over leadership in the church when Paul is no longer around. And he was letting Timothy know he couldn’t inherit the mantle of leadership simply because Paul loved him; rather, he would have to work for it. And that meant working on himself! ‘Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.’ Opportunities in life come to all of us, but they’re only recognised and grasped by those who are prepared. And that means being willing to grow, adapt, and change.