How fast can you change?

How fast can you change?
My friend Lee Baker has some great insights below:

I fear because of the fact that society has built in us the desire for immediate results, and can deliver in most cases, that it’s made us think that we can develop as people that way as well.

Everyone is aware of the speed of the world around us. We see it everywhere in various cliche forms, but lately I’ve seen it in the form of the desire for human growth and advancement more than usual. You may be familiar with the common self gratifying forms of hasty human advancement and growth like diet pills, 24hour fitness, the ability to work anywhere and everywhere. What I’m seeing and hearing about lately is a more noble form of haste, but haste none the less and therefore it scares me all the same.

We all want to be better people and we all want the world to be a better place. We’re all wrestling with things like world poverty, self sacrifice, and our convictions about consumerism, need, and what love really is. These are noble desires, but none of them develop quickly and none of them ever stop growing.

Let me explain through a story or two. I’ve had a couple of chats with young friends lately who are on a journey to really discover who they are. They want to know how they are supposed to live life and who they really want to be. Both were talking about taking drastic measures in order to develop a proper view of consumerism and care. And it was the drastic measures that concerned me.

I fear because of the fact that society has built in us the desire for immediate results, and can deliver in most cases, that it’s made us think that we can develop as people that way as well. Every wants to lose 10 lbs in 5 days, learn a foreign language in 1 month, etc… Everything nowadays is stamped with quick, easy, fast, now… But I can promise you nothing that is fast, quick, or easy is going to develop into character. We think character can change quickly because everything else can (or so we’re told), but character and any deep part of our belief or convictions doesn’t change overnight. It’s cultivated, thought through, and developed throughout our lives. The core of my life has been and always will be Jesus, but the peripheral beliefs in my life have changed a lot over the last 15 years of my life. Here’s an illustration.

I have lived in the same house for 7 years now and each summer the yard starts and ends in better shape than the year before. I have cultivated it, fertilized, winterized, and everything I’ve needed to do to try to make my grass healthy over time. I could just be drastic and re-sod my entire lawn every year, but that’s not long lasting, deep rooted change. It’s something that is going to last because it’s been cultivated over time.

If you want to grow in your relationship with God think about this. God in the scriptures was never in a hurry. There are dozens of instances where people waited on God and that God was waiting to do something. God is love and love is patient.

No doubt sometimes drastic measures are needed in our life. No doubt that sometimes we need to make an immediate change, but if you’re desired result is a change or development of belief or character it’s going to take more than just an instance. It’s going to take altering your habits for the long haul and wrestling through the issues at each new stage of life.

See what I believe my friends are looking for is the end of the journey. Some sort of fulfillment or the achievement of the pinnacle. But the journey never ends. The pinnacle is never reached. At least not here. We all have a picture of our ideal selves, but we’re not going to achieve it right away. The things we want to be will be developed naturally in us as we live, strive, fail, and try consistently. We are constantly growing, constantly changing, constantly thinking and developing into the people that God created us to be. Society has in a way desensitized us to the point that we don’t feel constant slow change anymore, but trust me it’s real, it works. You will never develop lasting beliefs, convictions, or character through mental or emotional or fiscal shock treatment.

This is not meant to deter you from making a decision or to stop you from progressing all together. It’s not an excuse to sit still. It’s a call to think. It’s a challenge to not be discouraged if you fail. It’s an encouragement to patiently cultivate your character through wise counsel, life experience, and trusting God every step of the way. Constant gradual growth hasn’t been getting large amounts of press these days, but it’s not dead.

By Lee Baker

Here is some recommended reading:

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis

Seizing Your Divine Moment by Erwin McManus