I Can Only Change Me.

I can only change me. Try as I might to exert my will, my way, it doesn't work. What I want might seem to be best, but what do I know? Only God knows. I can only change me.

Jesus talked about judging others when he walked the earth. "'Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?'" He asked (Matt 7:4, New International Version). "'How can you say to your brother, "Let me take the speck out of your eye," when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye'" (vv. 4-5). I have a LOT of planks in my own eyes: failings, fallings, falterings, and just plain human weaknesses. So who am I to judge? Expending my energy on someone else is not going to change anything. I can only change me.

Sometimes, it seems that my own weaknesses and fears are actually what sensitize me to judging, too. As Lisa Bevere shares about her own marriage in her book, Unrivaled, "[His] imperfections were exposing mine on a much grander scale than I imagined possible." I think that is the case with a lot of relationships. Their failings expose mine, and in big ways. I cannot change them, though. I can only change me.

It's hard, even painful, to realize that I have so many failings, that I have so little control. By God-given design, though, I do have some control. I have control over myself through the power of the Holy Spirit. I can only change me. God can only change me. May it be so.

References:

Bevere, L. Without rival: Embrace your identity and purpose in an age of confusion and comparison. Revell.