The Choice

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual[a] act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:1-2

Alright, so let's just be honest.

We don't have it all together. Isn't it true that half the time, we're blindly walking about our life without surrendering to the Holy Spirit's teaching? We don't know how to be Christians, friends, siblings, kids, spouses, students, Americans..

...so how do I figure these things out? To all those who are wondering how to be a [insert role here], we need to ask these questions (and in this order):

1. Have I told my Savior that I'm not or do not know how to fulfill(ing) this role?
2. Do I need to ask for forgiveness for not fulfilling this role by sinning? (ie. impurity in a relationship)
3. What steps towards repentance (life change after forgiveness) do I need to take?
4. How am I going to carry these steps out? (ie. I will not spend time alone with the opposite sex any more, I will not cheat on my wife anymore, I will set aside quality time for my friends, etc.)
5. What does the Bible say about these roles?
6. How am I failing to be like this?
8. How am I fulfilling this role?
9. Are there any biblical examples of this role around me?
10. Do I have any negative feelings towards this example? (ie. jealousy that I'm not like this example, bitterness that came as a result of this jealousy, etc.)
11. If I am harboring jealousy or bitterness towards this example, ask for forgiveness from 1. God, 2. the person. And 3., work towards moving that forgiveness to the next step: repentance against that kind of feelings towards people.
12. Am I observing this example with a watchful eye to see where/how he/she/they is/are biblical example(s) of this role?
13. Should I pray about asking this person/group of people to disciple me?

I think it begins there... We need to:

1. Make a daily, sometimes moment by moment, choices to surrender to the Holy Spirit's transforming power and die to the desires of our sinful flesh,
2. Ask for God's help, a good example of this role's help, and a role model's help,
3. Live a repentant life and choose to change, not repeat the same mistakes over and over again
4.and be very prayerful about this. It is God's will for us to be like His Son, but man's transformation has nothing on the Holy Spirit's transformation.

So fill in this sentence:

I want to be a godly [ ].

What are you going to do about it?

Change starts with surrender, happens through Holy Spirit transformation, and ends in Heaven. It's a life long process, but through our Savior's touch, progress can be made if we just let Him.