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PROGRAM D-7947
One of my favorite characteristics of God is that he never changes. Isn’t it wonderful to know he’ll be the same way he’s always been? Don’t you look forward to that day when we’ll be like Jesus and have no need to change? That will be something! Until then, change is something we need to do.
One of the main reasons we never change our bad habits or put good new ones in our lives is that we forget. When we start to change anything about ourselves, we have to have reminders around us because during the transition period, we won’t remember. We need memory joggers—I call them gimmicks, gimmicks to help us remember to change.
For instance, in my business training, I encouraged people to put a mirror on their desk at work near their telephone where they would have to look at themselves frequently. How one looks is how one sounds; the mirror becomes a dramatic reminder that we need to smile more when we’re talking on the phone so that we’ll sound better. The mirror is a gimmick—it helps us remember.
Now, think about what you want to change about yourself. If you will come up with a gimmick to help you remember, and put that gimmick into your everyday life, you’ll be surprised how it helps you change! Maybe it’s something as simple as a sign you put in front of you. Maybe you ask other people to remind you. Perhaps you establish a little ritual of reading something at the beginning of each day which reminds you to change.
A man once told me that he wrote a message on his bathroom mirror each night using an erasable magic marker. That message is intended to remind him each morning to start his day in a positive mode. That’s a great gimmick! You and I could write a verse of scripture or something encouraging to remind us that we’re working on making a good change happen in our lives.
You may have heard my message on the well-dressed Christian where I suggest that you “put on” the inner garments each morning before you leave home. I practice that to this day and don’t intend to stop, because it is that early morning reminder which helps me remember that God is in the business of changing me into the likeness of Jesus, and I want that change to continue!
Satan loves to work at making us remember what we should forget and forget what we should remember. Help your memory along: make it easier to change by devising some gimmicks that work for you. Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ…” You can change through Jesus if you’ll work at it.