Topic: To Really Change, You Have to Know the Truth [RICK WARREN Devotional 6 December 2022]

Topic: To Really Change, You Have to Know the Truth [RICK WARREN Devotional 6 December 2022]

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To Really Change, You Have to Know the Truth

BY RICK WARREN — DECEMBER 6, 2022
FROM BUILDING CHARACTER

“Use the truth to make them holy. Your words are truth.”

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John 17:17 (GW)If you want to be transformed, you can’t be conformed.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 3:18-19, “Don’t fool yourself. Don’t think that you can be wise merely by being relevant . . . What the world calls smart, God calls stupid” (The Message).

If you want God to transform your life, then you have to choose not to conform to what society and culture say you should be or do. But you can’t make this life change on your own power.

Changing your life starts by changing the way you think, and that’s not something you can do by yourself. Ephesians 4:23 says, “Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes” (NLT).

How does the Holy Spirit do that?

Real change requires learning the truth. You may already know these famous words of Jesus: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32 NLT).

But did you know that the night before Jesus went to the cross, he prayed, “Use the truth to make them holy. Your words are truth” (John 17:17 GW).

God uses the truth of his Word to make you complete.

The secret to personal change is not willpower. It’s not about making resolutions.

The secret to personal change in the hard areas of your life is knowing and applying the truth—which you’ll find in God’s Word, the Bible.

If you spend time in the Word of God, soaking your mind with the truth, the Bible promises this: “Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or . . . made the lie sound like the truth. Instead, we will lovingly follow the truth at all times . . . and so become more and more in every way like Christ who is the Head of his body, the Church” (Ephesians 4:14-16 TLB).

The more you get to know Jesus, the more truth you’ll know. And you’ll find yourself moving past the lies you’ve been believing. You’ll grow, change, and transform more into the likeness of Christ. And you’ll realize that the truth really does set you free.

Talk It Over

Many people think that following God’s Word brings bondage because of all the rules they have to follow. But how does following God’s Word actually bring freedom? When have you experienced that freedom in your own life?
How are you making time in your life to “soak” your mind with the truth of God’s Word? If you’re not doing that, what new habits do you need to start this week?
What lie—what thought that you believe—is keeping you in bondage? How has God’s Word brought you freedom from that? If it hasn’t, begin applying the truth of God’s Word to that lie today.

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