Rick Warren's Blog, page 566

God���s Goal Is Your Character, Not Your Comfort

Many religions and New Age philosophies promote the old lie that we are divine or can become gods. Let me be absolutely clear: You will never become God or even a god.

That prideful lie is Satan���s oldest temptation. Satan promised Adam and Eve that if they followed his advice, they would be ���as gods��� (Genesis 3:5 KJV).

To Get Enthusiastic, Get in God

In order to reach your goals, you have to figure out how to maintain your enthusiasm over the long haul.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, ���Nothing great is ever accomplished without enthusiasm.��� I believe that with all of my heart. I have found it to be true in my life. You���ve got to have passion, you���ve got to have enthusiasm, or you���re never going to make it to the finish line.

Fill Your Life with Love

If you want lasting change in your life, you must fill your life with love.

Love is the only thing that can change the unchangeable. Love invigorates. Love revitalizes. Love renews. Love refreshes. Love is the most powerful force in the universe, because God is love. It doesn���t say he has love; it says he is love. Love heals what cannot otherwise be healed. Love uplifts. Love strengthens. Love energizes. Love empowers.

Change Requires Community

You will not make all the changes you need to make, want to make, would love to make, plan to make, or hope to make by yourself. If you could, you would. But you can���t, so you won���t!

To Know Where You���re Going, Evaluate Where You Are

The first and greatest barrier to change in any area of your life is pride.

The fact is, nobody has it all together. I don���t have it all together. You don���t have it all together. The Pope doesn���t have it all together. The Bible says there���s nothing perfect on Earth except God���s Word. Everything on this planet is broken because of sin.

Take Off the Old, Put On the New

If you want to have lasting change in your life, you have to start with your body, and that includes changing the way you think so that you honor God through the things you think and through the things you let into your mind.

Taking Care of Your Body Is Worship

For change to happen in any area of your life, whether it���s financial, vocational, educational, mental, or relational, you have to begin with the physical.

Don���t Give the Devil a Foothold

When you give the Devil a foothold into your life, he takes a stronghold. What does that mean? If you give Satan control of one little part of your life, he will soon take over the whole thing. You give him a foothold into your life, and he turns it into a stronghold.

You Can���t Change Everything on Your Own

Lasting change requires honest, authentic community. You need people in your life who will tell you the truth in love. There are some things in your life you will never change without the help of others.

Change Takes Time

When God wants to remove the defects in your life, he doesn���t just snap his fingers so that it happens instantly. He does it incrementally. When God wants to make a mushroom, he takes six hours. But when God wants to make an oak tree, he takes 60 years.