Don't Ever Change

A few days ago, I was thinking back to when I was in middle school. We had issues then, just as we have issues now. It’s just that it’s not the same type of issues. Issues then seem so simple when you look back at them now. Maybe they really were more difficult than the issues we deal with now, but at the time they really seemed so hard. I remember the day they passed out the yearbooks at the end of the year. You always looked forward to getting the yearbooks and seeing everyone’s picture, but you always had to think about what you were going to write in other people’s yearbooks.

Back when I was in middle school, the thing to write was “don’t ever change”. I remember getting my yearbook back from so many people and it saying the same thing over and over: “Don’t ever change”. I know it was meant as a compliment, but even at the young age that I was, it made me laugh. The only thing I could think was, so you don’t want me to change from a 12-year-old girl? You want me to stay a 12-year-old girl forever? I couldn’t wait to change! I couldn’t wait to grow up and not be a 12-year-old girl anymore. Now that I’m older, I look back at things like this. Of course I knew then, just like I know now, the reality of not ever changing was and is pretty impossible. There are so many things that cause you to change. Change isn’t always a bad thing, but it isn’t always a good thing either.

With each mistake we make, we change.

We know that even being a Christian, it is inevitable as we go through life that we will make mistakes. Mistakes started with Adam and Eve in the garden, and they won’t end with us. Making mistakes is part of how we grow and learn, but with every mistake we make, it changes us. It changes the way we think, it changes the way we act, it can even change the way we see the world and things around us.

With each decision we make, we change.

Our number one, most important decision is obviously being saved by Jesus. That’s a decision that will always change you for the better. When we make that decision, we know that we become a new person, just like 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold all things have become new.” With other decisions in our life, we change also. When we decide to get married, we decide to have children, when we our career paths. Maybe you’ve made a decision in your life that ended up being a wrong decision. I feel like we’ve all been there at some point in our life, whether it be a small decision or massive decision, they change us.

With each trial we face, we change.

We don’t always ask for each trial we face in our lives. We lose loved ones or find out a sweet baby has cancer. We live paycheck to paycheck until our car breaks down, and we don’t have the money to fix it. Our house catches on fire and we lose everything. Bad things happen to good people every single day. We may not have made a poor decision, it just happens. Things come up unexpectedly, things we didn’t anticipate happening, things we couldn’t dream of happening, but they do. God knew these things were going to happen. None of it comes as a shock to Him, but it completely changes our world. These trials change us.

Take a step back and examine the person you are right now because chances are, you have many more mistakes you will make, decisions to make, and trials to face. You’ll change a little more with each step you take. Don’t allow those changes to bring you down, but learn from them and keep moving forward.