Rick Warren - Gods Power to Change Your Life

Books by Rick Warren

The Purpose Driven Life

The Purpose Driven Church

Rick Warrens Bible Study Methods

What on Earth Am I Here For?

Living with Purpose Series

Gods Answers to Lifes Difficult Questions

Gods Power to Change Your Life

L I V I N G W I T H P U R P O S E

RICK WARREN

G O D S P O W E R T O
C H A N G E
Y O U R L I F E

Gods Power to Change Your Life

Mobipocket Reader format

Copyright 1990, 2006 by Rick Warren

Previously published as The Power to Change Your Life

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

ISBN-10: 0-310-27746-9
ISBN-13: 978-0-310-27746-0

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version . NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

The other Scripture versions quoted in this book are listed on pages 233 34, which hereby becomes part of this copyright page.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Interior design: Beth Shagene
Cover design: Curt Diepenhorst
Cover photo: Vinconzo Lombardo/Getty Images
Cover illustration: Jim Dobbs

To Amy, Joshua, and Matthew.

I am so proud of each of you.

My prayer is that your lives will

demonstrate the message of this book.

C ONTENTS

Preface

W hat would you like to change about your-self? Would you like to be more confident or more relaxed? Perhaps you would like to be more outgoing, less anxious, or less fearful. Most of us are more than a little interested in changing because we realize there is always room for improvement.

We have probably even read some self-help books and tried to change, only to find ourselves slipping back to the way we dont want to be. So what are we to do?

This book is mainly about two things: where the power to change comes from, and what we want to be like after we change.

The bottom line is that Jesus Christ offers us the power we need to become what he wants us to be. This book unveils both of these truths as expressed in the Bible specifically in the book of Galatians. There we read that the outgrowth of Christs power is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22 23). This is a challenging list. We probably have some of these qualities by nature; the rest well, thats why we want to change.

The change doesnt come all at once. It may take time. But when we rely on Gods power, we can change. My prayer is that in reading this book and thinking through these qualities, you will embrace the power Christ offers, shed those traits you really dont want, and become the person he and you desires you to be.

CHAPTER 1

T HE P OWER TO C HANGE
Y OUR L IFE

I n the years I have been a pastor, the number one question I have been asked is, Rick, why cant I change? I want to change I really do. But I dont know how. Or sometimes a questioner will add instead, But I dont have the power.

We go to seminars and conferences looking for a painless cure by which our lives can be zapped and changed by instant self-discipline. We go on diets. (I once went on a diet for an entire afternoon.) We join health clubs, and our enthusiasm runs strong for about two weeks. Then we fall back into the same old rut. We dont change. We read self-help books, yet the problem with self-help books is that they tell us what to do but cant give us the power to do it. They say things like, Get rid of all your bad habits. Be positive; dont be negative. But how? Where do we get the power to change? How do we get our lives out of neutral? How do we break out of the mold were in? The good news is, Christianity offers the power we need.

W E C AN H AVE R ESURRECTION P OWER

The word power occurs fifty-seven times in the New Testament. It is used to describe the most powerful event that ever happened, an event that separated AD from BC the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And that resurrection power is available to change your life!

The most important thing in life is knowing Christ and experiencing the power of his resurrection. Paul writes, I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection (Phil. 3:10). In another letter he tells his readers, I pray that you will begin to understand how incredibly great his power is to help those who believe him. It is that same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at Gods right hand in heaven (Eph. 1:19 20 LB).

Paul uses the Greek word for power, dunamis , which is the root of our word dynamite . So Paul is saying, God wants to give you dynamite power that can change your life. Yes, the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead two thousand years ago is available to us right now to transform the weaknesses in our lives into strengths. The Bible describes resurrection power as the power to cancel our past, the power to conquer our problems, and the power to change our personality.

Gods Power Will Cancel Our Past

First, resurrection power is the power to cancel our past our failures, mistakes, sins, and regrets. When I say cancel, Im not talking about denying the past as if it never happened. Cancel means to eliminate, to neutralize, to offset something.

Have you ever gotten halfway through a project and wished you could start over? Suppose you are painting the living room, and you step back and look at the color that seemed perfect on the sample chart. On the wall, however, it doesnt look so perfect. You wish you could start over.

A lot of people feel that way about life: Ive made so many mistakes. I wish I could just wipe them out and start over. Failures, problems, bad decisions we have all suffered from them. But some people just cant seem to let go of the past, and as a result, they let their past limit their present opportunities. They live in a constant state of regret, continually lamenting, If only I hadnt done that or If only I had made these changes. They repeatedly second-guess themselves. And they are tormented by painful memories. I blew it, and Im going to be paying for it the rest of my life.

God says that it is unnecessary for us to go around with a heavy load of guilt, old hurts, and memories of mistakes. In Colossians 2:13 14 he says he has forgiven all our sins and canceled every record of the debt we had to pay. He did it by allowing Christ to be nailed to the cross.

Jesus Christ knows the things we have done wrong, but he did not come to rub them in. He came to rub them out. He did not come to condemn us; he came to change us. A clean slate is possible! Think in terms of my sons Etch A Sketch. If he makes a mess of a design or picture, all he has to do is flip it over to wipe the slate clean; then he can start all over again. The Bible says this is what God does with the mistakes we have made. When we come to him, he wipes the slate clean.