Lord, please help me to change - Judith Couchman

LORD, PLEAS E HE L P ME T O CHANG E(5:4, 6) . And that' s wher e Rosalie' s confession s turned worth -less. I n th e end , sh e didn' t chang e because , i n th e beginning ,she didn' t inten d to . Sh e use d confessio n t o placat e he r con -science rathe r tha n t o repent o f her sins .When we'r e working towar d persona l change , w e can totte rbetween feelin g guilty about ou r sin s and actuall y repenting o fthem. It' s the latte r tha t make s th e differenc e to God an d deter -mines whether w e truly change .Instead o f merely feelin g regretful, repentance require sthat we turn aroun d an d wal k i n a different direction, awa y fromthe si n that binds us . It doesn't mea n w e won't los e balance whil eturning an d redirectin g ourselves . O r tha t w e won't stumbl ealong th e ne w path. I t means that , with our wil l and God' s super -natural power , we intend t o stop doing evi l and t o please God .mPERSONAL CHECKPOIN T1. I n th e past , hav e yo u confesse d you r si n t o eas e you r con -science or t o repent and change ?2. Afte r you confes s sin , wha t keep s yo u fro m forsakin g tha t si nand changing ?James explains the relationship o f faith and behavior :Faith that is alone—that does nothing—is dead.Someone might say, "You have faith, but I have deeds. " Show meyour faith without doing anything, and 1 will show you my faith by whatI do. You believe there is one God. Good! But the demons believe that, too,and they tremble with fear.You foolish person! Must you be shown that faith that does nothingis worth nothing? Abraham, our ancestor, was made right with God bywhat he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar. So you see thatAbraham's faith and the things he did worked together. His faith wasmade perfect by what he did. This shows the full meaning of the Scripture.78