Chip Ingram - Yes! You Really CAN Change: What to Do When Youre Spiritually Stuck

2003, 2021 by
CHIP INGRAM

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

This is a revised edition of the previously published book The Miracle of Life Change: How God Transforms His Children (Chicago: Moody, 2003).

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NASB taken from the (NASB) New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Some names and details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

Interior Design: Puckett Smartt
Cover Design: Erik M. Peterson
Cover illustration of ligthbulbs copyright 2019 by muchomor / iStock (1190251269). All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Ingram, Chip, 1954- author.

Title: Yes, you really can change : what to do when youre spiritually stuck / Chip Ingram.

Description: Chicago : Moody Publishers, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references. | Summary: If God changes lives, why is mine stuck in the mud? We all want life change, but achieving it is hard. As Christians, we know Jesus has made it possible. The Holy Spirit even lives inside us! And yet, too many Christians are going nowhere. Can things ever get better? Pastor Chip Ingrams answer is simple: Yes, you really CAN change! With practical advice drawn straight from Scripture, Chip answers questions such as: Why do so many Christians change so little? Where do we get the power to change? How do you know when youre really changing? How do you break out of a destructive lifestyle? How do you make it last? In Yes, You Really CAN Change, youll learn the difference between living for Gods approval and from Gods approval. Only when you understand your full acceptance by a loving God can life change begin to happen-- Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020047553 (print) | LCCN 2020047554 (ebook) | ISBN 9780802424235 (paperback) | ISBN 9780802499868 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Change (Psychology)--Religious aspects--Christianity. | Spiritual formation. | Bible. Ephesians, IV--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Classification: LCC BV4599.5.C44 I54 2021 (print) | LCC BV4599.5.C44 (ebook) | DDC 248--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020047553

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020047554

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I dedicate this book to my brothers and sisters who have tried so hard to please God, to change, to break old habits, to overcome addictions, envy, private lusts, outbursts of anger yet find themselves frustrated, discouraged, and starting to believe that their life can never really change.

I have been there, and I have done that, and I have counseled untold numbers of Christians who felt the same way before they understood how lasting life change really happens.

May God grant you the grace to persevere, discover a community that will support you on your journey, and teach you His truth in a way that will allow you to experience the joy of being supernaturally changed from the inside out.

Friend,

Thank you for choosing to read this Moody Publishers title. It is our hope and prayer that this book will help you to know Jesus Christ more personally and love Him more deeply.

The proceeds from your purchase help pay the tuition of students attending Moody Bible Institute. These students come from around the globe and graduate better equipped to impact our world for Christ.

Other Moody Ministries that may be of interest to you include Moody Radio and Moody Distance Learning. To learn more visit www.moodyradio.org and www.moody.edu/distance-learning.

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The Moody Publishers Team

I had just finished preaching the third message of the weekend and was pretty tired. But I lit up as I saw Bobby headed my way through the crowd. He was a young man in his late twenties who had recently put his faith in Christ. He was likable, eager, sincere, and teachable, and wed had a number of conversations over the last year or so about his new life in Christ.

He was encountering all the normal ups and downs of his new birth. He was reading the Word, had joined a mens group, and was experiencing Gods presence and struggling to break free of some of the patterns of his old life. He often came up after services to ask me questions or report on how things were going at work, with his girlfriend, or with life in general. But today was different.

Bobby didnt look sad or discouraged, just matter-of-fact. Chip, I came to thank you for all your help, he said. I really do believe in Jesus, but Christianity just isnt working for me.

What do you mean? I asked.

Ive tried to do all the right stuff, and it just doesnt work for me. I keep thinking the same old thoughts, struggling with the same old sins, and feel worse now than before I became a Christian.

My attempts to probe and reason with him fell on deaf ears. He had made up his mind. I drove home from church slowly and feeling sad.

Ive met very few people who were as honest and straightforward as Bobby, but Ive met hundreds who feel the same way. They are sincere and love God, but Christianity is not working for them either.

People say it a thousand different ways, but it can be summarized in just a few words. For some, its spiritual fatigue. Their faith has stalled. Theyre stuck, not growing, and out of energy. For others, its spiritual frustration. They are frustrated with their inability to overcome some private sin or maintain some spiritual discipline. They feel like a failure with no hope in sight. Still others are spiritually and emotionally exhausted from trying to measure up by praying more, reading the Bible more, giving more, serving more, and being at church more.