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In order to get to heaven, you have to change. That’s what Jesus said in Matthew 18:3: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Change requires admitting you’re wrong, and many people just refuse to humble themselves and say, “I need to change.” It’s that old serpent pride which gets into our minds and hearts, and we rebel against any change because we refuse to admit we need to change.

In one of my business seminars a manager told me that one of her employees had a very abrupt tone of voice which sounded rude to customers. When she confronted her with the need to change her tone of voice, her employee was very defensive. She said, “My mother’s been telling me that all my life, but I’m not going to change the way I talk. That’s the way I am, and you’re asking me to be someone phony.” So, she refused to take either her mother’s or her manager’s advice; she chose to be the way she is rather than admit she needed to change.

Now, don’t we all have to admit we’ve done something similar. You see, changing is humbling. Anyone who is working at changing themselves is admitting they have room for improvement, and that takes humility. In that next verse, Matthew 18:4, Jesus goes on to say, “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

This is one key reason people don’t change. When Jesus told those people they had to change and become like children—humble themselves—not too many of them were willing to do that. Most people reject Jesus because they’re not willing to admit they have a need to change.

How about in your life? Is some stupid pride keeping you from saying, “You know, that’s an area where I really need to change. By God’s grace, I’m going to change for the better”? If pride is the problem, will you today ask God to forgive you and give you a heart that’s willing to change?

In 2 Corinthians 3:18 we read that we are being transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ with ever increasing glory. Transformation is change. It’s exciting to think that we can be changed into the likeness of Jesus; I don’t want to miss that transformation, how about you? But remember, in order to become more and more like Jesus, we have to change.