…the last state of that person is worse than the first.
How many times have you seen an area in your life that needed change and said, “hmmm… how can I make this worse?” I’m willing to bet none. I would say that the average person would see something that needs to change in their life and think, “okay… this needs to change for the better.”
Looking at myself in the mirror, if I’m honest, I probably could lose a few pounds. My body would certainly thank me if I got fit. In seeing this need in myself, I cannot recall a time that I have looked at my excess weight and thought, “okay, how can I make this weight situation worse?”
Can you imagine if the number one most common way to lose weight was to eat as many doughnuts as possible?! That would be nonsense, but what if that was the way that everyone was attempting to achieve their weight-loss goals?
First, I would engage passionately and intentionally into that weight-loss program. I would be the most dedicated and disciplined participant that the “Weight Loss Doughnut Cleanse Program” had ever seen. I would wear the shirts, put the sticker on my car, and tell every friend I know! I would get everyone to sign up under me because I can supply them with doughnuts for a monthly fee, and I would encourage them to get others to sign up under them (it’s not a pyramid scheme… it multi-level marketing… totally different. I promise).
Second, by the end of it, I would be worse off than when I began. I would have very much the complete opposite of the results that I desired. I would be covered in cream and filled with shame and purchasing larger, stretchier clothes, not smaller.
As silly as this sounds, the prevailing way to create change in our culture involves engaging in a nonsense process that leaves individuals worse in the end than in the beginning. It leaves them covered in more chains and filled with more shame and costing them more than they imagined.
In Matthew 12:43-45, Jesus describes how many attempt to bring freedom and change in their lives: they apply effort, discipline, and structure to get things in order. From the outside looking in, they have achieved their goals, but in the end they end up worse than before. Every. Single. Time.
How can this be? Like doughnuts, effort, discipline, and structure sound good! They sound good because they are good (yes, doughnuts are good), but they are not enough. When battling against bondage and chaos in our lives, we are not simply dealing with order in our home; we are dealing with spiritual forces that require spiritual work.
When getting our lives in order, we need the Holy Spirit to bring real change. The Holy Spirit may lead us to engage our will, walk in discipline, and set up structure in our lives, but make no mistake. We need the Holy Spirit to bring true, lasting change in our lives that does not result in a worse condition than before. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to evict the enemy from the places in our lives that the enemy thinks he owns. We need the Holy Spirit to fill those spaces that the enemy has enjoyed influencing and controlling in our lives. We need the authority of Jesus to stand guard and protect us.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today God wants you to invite Him to break the power of the enemy in your life in a way that you haven’t been able to. Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to fill vacant places in your life with His Spirit. Perhaps you have been on a long-standing cycle of effort that has resulted in more fear, more lust, and more bondage; and God wants you to be free. Maybe today God wants you to abandon the common ways of this world to bring change and open your heart to Him.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.
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*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 328-330, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 12:43-45) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).