There is a book in circulation at this moment in time among Christian home groups and bible studies called the “Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren. I believe the most profound truth expressed in this book is in chapter 22. This chapter is called “Created to Become Like Christ”. Here, (Page 175) Rick relates three things we must do to become more Christ like. First,(1) we must let go of the old ways. (that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to deceitful lusts) Secondly,(2) we must let the Holy Spirit change our way of thinking (and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and thirdly, (3)we must put on the character of Christ by developing new, Godly habits.(and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness)                                                            (Ephesians 4:22-24)

For those, who can agree with me, that becoming more Christ like is the most important goal that a Christian can have in life, I would like to give one example of man  my personal life concerning how this process is working with me.

My old nature has had a problem with coveting the security brought about by money. When I lived outside the will of God for my life, I reasoned with my darkened mind that a nice successful life was contingent upon attaching myself to a successful company in a job position that would require the lease amount of effort for the most pay in hard cash. When I landed a job with a fortune five hundred company that seemed to offer those criteria, my life was set. I willingly sold myself into slavery. My time became the company’s time. Everything else including family took second place.

Several years after I rededicated my life to Christ, the Holy Spirit revealed to me that I had a choice to make. I could continue to give my life to the company I had now worked for almost 20 years, or I could allow the Holy Spirit to lead me into a new career that would allow me more control over my time. At this point the company was paying me more than ever, but I was required to work 72 Hrs. per week, many times at night from 5:00PM until 5:00AM on Holidays and weekends. My wife and I had three children that received none of my attention as a father. In essence my wife was a single parent handling all the responsibilities that comes with raising a family alone.

At this point there was no doubt that I needed to take the first step in becoming more Christ like by letting go of the old ways. This meant letting go of the job that was preventing me from becoming the father God wanted me to be. This was a very practical application of that first step starring me straight in the face. How could I grow into what Christ wanted for my life, if I couldn’t be a father to my own children? God’s priority in a Christian’s life places family before career and job responsibilities. I could make excuses but the truth was this. I had chosen this job many years before and I had chosen it, not out of a trusting relationship with God, but as did the children of Israel, looking toward Egypt, I had looked toward this company for my welfare.

God works on us one step at a time. I prayed and took the first step (Letting go of the old ways) by taking Real Estate classes. I can assure the reader that I was in no way prepared to take the second step when I took that first step. I can remember that my old way of thinking seemed to be more strongly entrenched than ever. I even remember saying to myself as I signed up for classes, that I would obtain my Real Estate license, but stay with this job at least another 8 years until I would be eligible for early retirement. My reasoning was that I would have a considerable amount of hard cold cash in my thrift plan by then and the added bonus of a nice little retirement income.

That would also mean that my children would be fatherless for another 8 years.

During the time I worked on getting a Real Estate license something supernatural happened. The Holy Spirit worked on changing my way of thinking. I began to hate my work life and the ungodly atmosphere of use and be used that was prevalent in that place. It became obvious to me that I was not working among friendly associates but instead, I was dwelling in an environment controlled by hell. Although I was working harder than ever to prove my loyalty to the company, my co-workers and supervisors became more and more alienated from me. I literally became a fish out of water.  Lies about my job performance were spread throughout the job site.

Actually, the Holy Spirit was empowering a transformation in me to allow me to see what had really been happening all along. For the first time, my eyes were opened and I realized that this entire work experience was designed to keep me beaten down and defeated, just as the children of Israel were defeated when they chose to live in Egypt. I was being renewed in the spirit of my mind by God to be able to see this. I was beginning to realize the truth for the first time and the truth was this. I could never be what God wanted me to be and continue to work for this company. The question that kept rolling over in my mind was: Isn’t it always better to be what God wants us to be than to live in the puny existence created by our own corrupt thought processes, which have been tainted by deceitful lusts?  The transformation that the Holy Spirit made, by asking me this question was profound. By the time I had obtained my Real Estate license, I was eager to quit. When that crucial decision was made to leave the company, I had only seven years to go, until I would have been eligible for early retirement.

It has been eight years since I made that choice to leave my Egypt. Since 1995 the residential Real Estate market has been booming. With the creation of the internet, advances in computer technology and cell phones, it has become possible for a small business like ours to be more productive and flexible with our work environment then anyone could have imagined 10 years ago. In short, God has met our needs.

The Holy Spirit is the chief executive officer of our little company and we report directly to him. Since He is very family minded, he arranges for us to spend more time with our children than we ever dreamed would be possible. This time is precious and has contributed remarkably to their development.

In this new work environment that the Holy Spirit has created, I am able to allow the Holy Spirit to continue to work on the third step in the process mentioned above. I am learning how to put on the character of Christ by developing new, Godly habits. This could never have happened, if I had chosen to stay in the old environment. That decision had been made years before by the old corrupt man. How could it have been the right decision? It was based on my old lust for money.

The question I need to ask the reader now is what areas of your life are a part of the "Old Man's" life style? Where do you need to build trust in God, by placing your feet in the water of a stream you have never crossed before? The basis for the answer to the questions above is this. We are all called to minister if we are in Christ. That ministry starts with building a strong personal relationship with Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Secondly, that ministry will call upon us to minister to those whom God has placed within the closest proximity, usually our immediate family. Thirdly, We are called to become a contributing part of a body of believers, to reach out to a dying world with the message of Christ.

If anything is standing in the way, to prevent these three things from taking place in our lives then that circumstance has been created from choices made by the "Old Man" and not the "New Man".

Wayne Wade

Minister

Full Gospel Fellowship of Churches and Ministries International