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I found myself at a crossroads, and I didn’t know which way to go.  I was on my way home from meeting with a group of ladies from my church.  The hostess lived in the middle of nowhere, and I wasn’t familiar with the area.  It was also very late, well after dark.  Somewhere along the way, I had taken a wrong turn.  Of course, this was before the days of GPS and smart phones.  My only choice was to call my husband and have him look up directions on our home computer.

I eventually found my way home.  It can be a scary experience finding yourself on the wrong road and not knowing how to get from where you are to where you need to be.  The same is true in our spiritual lives.  Sometimes, we realize that we are not where we need to be in our walk with God.  Sin and distraction can cause us to wander off the path.  We may not always know how to get back on track, but we know something needs to change. 

In Ephesians 4:1, the apostle Paul urges his readers to live worthy of the calling that they received.  Earlier in this same letter, Paul wrote that we were chosen to be holy and blameless before God (Ephesians 1:4).  Our calling is to be holy and blameless.  The word holy means “moral purity,” while blameless means “freedom from the guilt of sin.”  We must DO the right thing while NOT doing the wrong thing.  Easy, right? 

Maybe you have it all worked out, but for me, it’s hard to do the right thing all the time while avoiding the wrong things.  I can commiserate with Paul in Romans 7:19, where he writes, “I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do.”  So, what can we do?  How can we change from who we are to who we should be?

The same man who struggled with sin in Romans gives us an outline for how to change in Ephesians 4:22-24.  First, we are to put off the old, former self.  This refers to getting rid of the sin in our lives.  If we are Christians, we are new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17).  We are no longer slaves to sin.  Second, we must be renewed in our minds.  Our behavior is directly affected by our beliefs.  In other words, right thinking leads to right doing.  We must align our thoughts to the truth of God’s Word if any lasting change is to occur in our lives.  Third, we must put on new Christlike character, which is holy and righteous.  Did you notice that this directly reflects the calling that we discussed earlier?  We are to be blameless by putting off the old self, and we are to be holy by putting on the new self.

My next few posts will be looking at these three steps of change in more detail.  I’ll also share how I’ve been trying to practice them in my own life.  No matter how far off the path you find yourself, don’t give up.  There’s always a way back to get back on the path!