Why Aren’t You?
SHE struggles with anger. It’s limiting her leadership. Why isn’t she doing something about it?
HE wrestles with temptation to eat more than he knows he should. It’s making him too tired too early in the day. Why isn’t he doing something about it?
HE was hurt by comments made by a board member during the meeting last month. It’s all he can think about. Why isn’t he doing something about it?
SHE knows that she should not be meeting with him over coffee and talking with him about her marriage challenges. It’s only creating an emotional connection that is sure to lead to an affair. Why doesn’t she do something about it?
Why don’t we do something about it?
We don’t see the dangerous outcomes.
We don’t know the way out.
We would rather complain and seek out sympathy.
But most of all…
The pain of change is greater than the pain of staying the same.
Talk to a person with a serious sweet tooth who just came from the doctor diagnosed with a serious diabetes. You will see a genuine resolve to cut back or even eliminate what he loved so much to eat. Status quo means not being alive to push his grand kids on the swing set out back. But change means living longer. In other words, the pain of change is less than the pain of staying the same.
Great minds think alike! Later today I will be posting something that sort of asks the same question.
It remined me of what Jesus said to His disciples about leaving your home, family, etc. to follow Him. You are right about change being painful, so we put it off. However, if you have cancer you need to make a change and allow either surgery or chemotherapy to be implemented to heal you. Sometimes change is radical, but more often than not, the changes we need to make in order to serve Christ better are small – we just put them off.
Susan recently posted..Papa
Susan – please post the URL link to your post. I’m sure it will add value to the discussion. Thanks!
This is a 3-part series on Choices. The first post is here:
http://thedeterminedchristian.com/?p=485
If the URL doesn’t work just click on my name and it will take you to my home page.
I pray that this series will provoke a lot of discussion.
God bless you, Scott, and thank you for being so encouraging.
Susan recently posted..Choices – Part 1
Excellent, Susan. Thanks for sharing!
People, I believe, are reluctant to change; it is frightening because it is new and untried. They are unsure of the outcome. But, if we trust in our never-changing God and go to Him in prayer, we can find the strength and resolve to make those changes we need to.
Wonderful post!
Blessings!
Martha Orlando recently posted..Are You Reaching Across the Aisle?
Martha – thanks for adding to the discussion.
Good article on a very important topic; but please don’t imply that a sweet tooth causes diabetes (and all diabetes is “serious”). Most people, especially those of us who have type 1 (or juvenile) diabetes, never had a sweet tooth to begin with; and while type 2 (or adult-onset) diabetes is often seen in patients who are sedentary or overweight, sugar itself does not cause diabetes, and it never will.
Thank you for adding that value to the conversation, Alexandra. Your clarification about diabetes is well taken. No implications were intended, only as an example of the importance of change. I’m honored that you would feel comfortable here to push back.