"Turn and Face the Changes..."

As David Bowie sang.

One of the things that I reflect on are the changes that happen in my life. By 'changes' I don't just mean the environmental things but rather the changes in my character.

I've found it more and more helpful to think of God's will for my life being as simple as "become more Christ-like" and then taking advantage of the freedom that gives. The result of this is that I tend to review my life not in terms of where I am or what I am doing, but rather in terms of who I am. I think this is utterly consistent with the New Testament, as so much of what Peter, Paul et al call us to in terms of obedience to God is to do with character rather than what specific things we are doing.

This means that I like to take time every now and then to have an out-of-body experience and see how I have changed in the past few months. My hope is that I will have indeed "become more Christ-like" in the way that I relate and act. It's exciting because sometimes we link 'change' to our external circumstances so much that we think it is impossible to grow unless our environment changes. We think (and proclaim) that those wonderfully painful moments of growth come only when really cataclysmic things happen in our life - a lost job, a death in the family, depression etc. But we experience great growth in those moments not because God made things work that way, but simply because we've become so accustomed to stagnation that God has to shake things up to move us along. It doesn't have to be this way. Christ-likeness is to be pursued every moment of every day, so much so that when our circumstances change in a distressing way we should not be looking to them to provide our growth but rather our reaction to them should prove our growth.

Of course, looking for growth out of hard times is a good response, but I would rather that the pursuit of Christ-likeness be my norm rather than an unusual occurance. When it is seen through the lens of 'character' rather than 'achievement' then it can become the norm. There are a billion opportunities each day to grow, refine and shape our characters.