Why change must be from the inside out …

You’ve finally gotten so tired of what you see in the mirror that you admit you’re overweight.

No, to be honest, you tell yourself you’re actually obese.

‘Okay, time for a diet!” you think.

You even start walking around the block after dinner.

You stick with such efforts long enough that you lose 10 pounds.

Not bad!

Now you’re excited!

So you push harder and within six months you’ve lost 30 pounds!

You’re so proud of yourself!

One year later you weigh more than you did before starting your diet.

Why???

Because for a while, you were willing to do things – like change your usual eating habits and add a minimal amount of exercise – to make enough gains that your life felt more “under control.” But you hated every meal of your diet, and cursed every step of exercise. You didn’t make a lifestyle change, you made a momentary change. You used external actions to try to change a problem that was caused by internal desires.

That’s a simplistic approach to describing why real and lasting change must be from the inside out.

We can make some changes by tweaking the externals, but to be different, change must be rooted in the internals. And to be truly, utterly changed — transformed — it has to go as deep as the heart.

This kind of change is something Jesus spoke with great passion about. Mark records Jesus delivering this profound truth:

“And then he added, ‘It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you,” Mark 7:20-23.

King David was convicted about such vileness of his heart after Nathan the prophet called him out about his sin with Bathsheba and arranging for the murder of her husband, Uriah. His cry would be:

“Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me,” Psalm 51:10.

That is what is needed for real and lasting change — a change of heart.

That’s the kind of change Jesus offers us:

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Scotty