By: Pastor Jarren Rogers

“To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often” – John Henry Newman

Before Annie and I got married we underwent premarital counseling with our pastor. It was a simple way that we could give our marriage the best shot at success. In premarital counseling, we talked about our compatibility, our past, and our upbringing, anything that might pose a problem in our married life.

During these sessions, our pastor said something that caught me off guard.

He said, “Throughout your marriage, you will be married to a number of different people. Your wife or husband’s personality will change. It’s inevitable. But, you have to remember that you are committed to them as a person, not as a personality. You have to learn to fall in love with the ‘new them’ over and over again.”

Whether you agree with him or not, just think about it. How much have you changed since you were in middle school or high school? Your likes and dislikes have changed. Your sense of humor is different. You would probably make different decisions now or react differently than you would have back then. It’s easy to see how we have changed in the past, but it’s harder to come to the realization that we will continue to change going into the future.

The bottom line is this: people change and grow. The person that you’re married to now might not act the same ten years from now. Your best friend might react to a situation differently next year. It’s just part of being human.

The question is this:

Will you allow God to be responsible for changing you?

“Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand,” (Isaiah 64:8).

Not only does God know who you were and who you are. He knows who you will be and who you should be. He wants to mold you more into his image. God wants to make you into the best you.

Allow God to examine your heart. Pray that He will root out your flaws and your shortcomings; that he will replace your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26  ). Ask that he make you look more like Jesus, the greatest person to ever live.

You are going to change.

But, will you let God do the changing?

Parents: Ask your children how they have changed and see what they say. Tell them that God wants to change them into the best person that they can be. Pray with them and ask God for just that.