MESSAGE OF FAITH
To change
your life
How can people change their
lives when what controls
their actions and directs their
choices has not changed…
People often think that if
they had something, or if
something were to happen,
their lives would change.
Many get married, play the
lottery, get a higher education,
move to a different city, steal
and even kill in order to have
a certain person, object or
position, they believe will
have the power to change
their lives.
But how can they change
their lives when what controls
their actions and directs their
choices has not changed?
How can they enjoy what
is new, when they continue
dealing with things the old
way?
The secret to changing your
life is to change your way
of thinking. If you want to
have a new life, you need to
absorb new thoughts. Only
then will you be able to have
a new attitude. And, as a
consequence, you will have
new opportunities and results.
This is what Gideon did. First,
he changed his thoughts – he
thought about having more
rather than settling. Then,
he changed his attitude – he
went to thresh wheat in the
winepress instead of staying
in the cave. Soon after, he
had a new opportunity –
sacrifice to God. And, finally,
he obtained new results –
he delivered Israel from the
oppression of Midianites and
became extremely rich.
Everything that happens in the
environment first happens in
someone’s mind. Nothing can
be accomplished or realized if
it hasn’t first been assimilated
and processed by the mind.
Therefore, when you want
something to happen on the
exterior, it must first take place
in your interior. If you want to
change what is on the outside,
you need to change what is
inside. Otherwise, change will
never truly take place.
If you want something new,
but are not seeing it happen,
check if your thoughts remain
the same. Maybe you continue
with the same thoughts
about sacrifice – that you
have sacrificed in the past –,
about your own life – that it
has changed a lot –, and even
about God – that He did this
or that in the past.
Update your mind, like Gideon
did, when he said:
[…] And where are all His
miracles which our fathers
told us about[…]? But NOW
the LORD has forsaken us and
delivered us into the hands of
Midianites. Judges 6.13
This is, he was not satisfied
with the old, with what God
had done in the past. He
wanted new and updated
results to tell.
You have a new opportunity
to sacrifice. But if you deal
with this new opportunity
like you did before, with old
thoughts, then it’s not going
to work.
Change your old thoughts
for new ones, so that you can
change your old life for a new
one. Change the “I’ve done
that already” to “I am going
to do that”; the “that already
happened” to “this is going to
happen”; and even the “I was
that” to “I am going to be that”.
This is what you need to do to
change your life.
Renew your mind and have
a testimony that is as up-todate as the Word of God.
blogs.universal.org/bispomacedo/en/
STOP SUFFERING|03