I am relaunching this blog with a narrower focus and new goals. I have been interested in a lot of things and could write about them all, but I am narrowing this blog down to the common denominator – transformation. It is my firm belief that each of us has been given a destiny by God. It is our choice if we want to live it out or if we want to just merely exist, getting by from day to day, week to week, year to year, until we die. I, for one, do not want that. I want to live my life to the fullest. I want to experience the abundance that I believe with all my heart is available to us all. When I laugh, I want to laugh until it hurts. When I cry I want to cry until I run out of tears. I want to savor every moment that I have with those I love, and I want to live my life with abandon for the One who loves me the most.
But in order to do that, I must be willing to go deep and confront my own “inner world.” I must deal with the obstacles that are stopping me from living life to the fullest. This requires transformation from the inside out. It is that kind of transformation I want to write about. How do we overcome hindrances that for some of us are so ingrained we don’t even realize they are there? How do we change when we have created pathways in our thinking and behavior that we have been following for most, if not all, of our lives? And just to be clear, I’m talking about everything from spiritual to emotional to mental to physical pathways. Nothing is off limits here, and I have a suspicion that they are all connected anyway.
What do you think? Have you experienced significant transformation in your life? What did you have to do? Or do you WANT to experience that kind of true transformation and have not been able to so far? What is it? Weight loss? Your spiritual life? Relationships? Tell us about it and then let’s continue the conversation going forward from here.
Lance Arguello
6 months ago
Transformation came with a need to be compassionate. When I became a pastor, I realized that I had always lived with the “thou shalt not” mentality when it came to my spiritual life. But when I saw the people that I was ministering to, hurting from that same mentality, I hurt for them and realized that in order for me to help them grow, I had to transform from a “thou shalt not” pastor to a “If you love me keep my commandments” pastor. Meaning, my life should not be a life of fear, but of loving my Lord and showing this by being obedient to Him and what He has for my life.
Thank God for His transformation in my life.
Steve Nelson
6 months ago
Love the train of thought, Ben! I believe transformation takes intentionality (not sure if that’s a real word, but I’m accused of making up words all the time). I have to be intentional in order to allow real life change to begin to take place.
benwiles
6 months ago
Lance, I have had similar experiences. My role as a parent as well as my role as a pastor has caused me to go deep and examine my inner world. I had to get in touch with my motivations and see if my methods were effective. Often they haven’t been and have required change. My compassion and concern for my family and my church have given me the needed motivation to make the necessary changes. I think there is a point where, in order to continue growing, we have to be giving to others. I might need to write on that soon…..
Steve, I believe intentionality is a word, but if it’s not, it should be! And yes, sustainable change requires intentional focus and effort.
Bruce
3 months ago
Transformation came with a need to be compassionate. When I became a pastor, I realized that I had always lived with the “thou shalt not” mentality when it came to my spiritual life. But when I saw the people that I was ministering to, hurting from that same mentality, I hurt for them and realized that in order for me to help them grow, I had to transform from a “thou shalt not” pastor to a “If you love me keep my commandments” pastor. Meaning, my life should not be a life of fear, but of loving my Lord and showing this by being obedient to Him and what He has for my life.
Thank God for His transformation in my life.