"Why" Changes Everything

[Some day I’ll preach a sermon (series) on this subject, but in the mean-time, here are some things I'm reflecting on... ]


How does the Gospel of Jesus “change everything”?

Or, How do we apply the Gospel, and how does Holy Spirit use it to change us (or others)?

 
First, the Gospel changes our WHY.

We all have an uncertain or misshapen sense of self—our identity. Who are we? What do we need? What do we lack? Why do I exist?

The Gospel changes our understanding of these questions.

We all have an ever-shifting, never-satisfied, sense of purpose and meaning. What am I for? What do I need? What good am I? Am I good?

The Gospel transforms how we answer each of these questions.

Whatever we have thought about ourselves, we must now rethink that in light of the fact that Christ has made us His own, we are children of the Father, and Holy Spirit has birthed a “new self” within us. WHY do I do what I do? We now have an entirely new way to answer this.

And all of our struggles with insecurity, with scarcity—all our motives and our desires to be or have more—must now take into consideration these truths: the overflowing riches of God’s grace to us, the gift of God’s own self for us, the fullness, satisfaction, and infinite generosity of God in Christ through the Spirit who is in us. “Enough” is no longer a question, but a cheer. WHY do I do what I do? We now have a new answer for this foundational question.

Whether it’s our understanding of the causes of WHY we do what we do or the purposes of WHY we do what we do—whether it’s the reasons or the motives—WHY we do what we do is now changed.

WHY do I do these things? We used to answer this question with reference to childhood trauma or personality or circumstances of life. Or we answered it with reference to what we thought we wanted or needed: things like respect, success, money, validation, protection, control.

But now, WHY do we do what we do? Because Christ has made us His own. Because God is our Father. Because Holy Spirit is with us, in us, for us. Because we are so loved, graced, blessed, and saved. So that we might give praise and thanks to God. So that we might honor our Lord and Savior in all things. So that we might walk with the Spirit and grow in grace. So that we might express His love in kindness toward others.


When WHY changes, everything changes. Motives and desires are in everything we do. The Gospel changes our WHY and WHY changes everything.

Now, the WHY of our lives does not immediately send us into full-time ministry, or off into foreign missionary work. In fact, we might actually almost not do anything different, not initially. And yet, because the WHY has changed, everything we do changes.

There are, however, a few novel actions that appear in our lives, because our WHY has changed.

Because we need help with truly understanding our new WHY. We’ve lived so long with the wrong WHYs, and the world is so invested in encouraging the wrong WHYs. So we will find that we need regular reminders of who we truly are now, and what we now truly desire. This is where things like daily Bible reading, frequent prayer, and connections with our church, come from. We need these helps in orienting and securing our new WHY.

On the surface, it just looks like all that’s changed is we now are interested in the Bible and attend church. Not a lot has, perhaps, seemed to change. But truly everything has changed, and this change will spread and touch the whole course of our lives.

 
Prayer:
Lord, You have spoken love over me, into me, all around me, and this has changed everything I thought I was and everything I thought I wasn’t—everything I thought I had and everything I thought I needed. You have given me Your Word, Your Self, Your Heart, Your Spirit, Your Life, Your Attention and Your Help. I have so much more than all I could ever need. I have been remade to be so much more than anything I could have hoped to become.
Lord, let this Word dwell in me richly. Wash my heart with the water of these truths. Make me more Yours. Fill me more full. Thanks be to God, In Jesus’ Name Amen.

Next: the HOW-change

Photo by Rolands Varsbergs on Unsplash