Transformed From The Inside Out

Most psychologists endeavor to change people’s outward behavior. They focus on their past experiences and why those affected them. Yes, to a certain degree, past experiences will affect us. If you been stung by a bee when you were young, you certainly won’t go chasing them or catching them when you’re older because getting stung wasn’t fun, and it hurt. The problem most of us have is, without the Lord’s transformation of our lives, we focus on our outward behavior. If we don’t make certain changes, we beat ourselves up because we haven’t changed. People, for the most part, only see the outside of their friends, how they act or react.

Any real change must be from the inside out. There must be a heart transformation. Something must happen in our hearts (from where we believe) for us to make outward changes. Only outward changes in behavior doesn’t change our heart; in fact, it can cause us to try harder, work more, and feel guilty if we don’t make a necessary change. That’s why outward changes don’t totally solve our problems. “If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts” (1 John 3:20 NIV). The truth is our hearts need to be transformed.

So, how do we transform our hearts? It deals with what we believe—what beliefs we put in our hearts. The more truth of God’s love, His Word, what Jesus did for us, the more our hearts will be established, settled, allowing for God’s power to change us from the inside out. It takes practice putting God’s truth in our hearts, and minds, and changing our thinking.

That’s what happened to a young girl who through various illnesses and even being paralyzed, brought her to change her thought pattern to what was positive, hopeful. It transformed her life. You can do what she did and start speaking life-giving words to yourself. That’s what the Holy Spirit is doing, so join Him in expressing God’s thoughts about you. It’ll change you from the inside out!