\u201cWhen I first arrived, I thought, \u2018This is the worst decision I\u2019ve ever made!\u2019\u201d At 23, my oldest sister, Becky, enlisted in the army and soon found herself in hot, sticky Fort Jackson, South Carolina, for basic training. However, she quickly realized she wasn\u2019t physically ready for bootcamp. She could barely squeeze out five push-ups. Between endless hikes carrying 50-60 pounds of gear, digging trenches, and getting screamed at by her sergeants, she often doubted if she had what it took to complete training. She developed stress fractures in her feet and legs. At times, she was tempted to fake a mental breakdown. She had never done anything so physically and mentally taxing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, over time, she started to improve. By the end of bootcamp, she could do 88 push-ups and passed each training category. \u201cYour body starts to adapt and you don\u2019t really realize it,\u201d she told me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you feel bogged down right now, and all you can see are your failures, don\u2019t give up.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes, after you enlist in God\u2019s army, life seems to become more difficult than it was before. But that is not because God is creating problems for us\u2013it\u2019s because learning to live by love, instead of selfishness, is a process<\/em>, and starting that process reveals the dysfunction that has been in us all along. Becky felt better physically before she started bootcamp, but she wasn\u2019t actually in better shape. Basic training only revealed where she was at physically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After you start following Jesus and studying His love, you might realize that you gossip a lot about your roommate. You yell at your kids when they don\u2019t listen. You\u2019ve damaged your relationships with your addictions. But you also know that you don\u2019t want to be that person anymore. And by God\u2019s grace, Jesus transforms you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Bible calls this process repentance, and it means a reversal in your ways, a change in your trajectory. But, like basic training for Becky, changing directions is not instantaneous. Transformation takes time. Imagine if you\u2019re driving a car and going to make a U-turn, typically, you have to slow down quite a bit to make the turn. Jesus put it this way: \u201cNo one, having drunk old wine, immediately <\/em>desires new; for he says, \u2018The old is better\u2019\u201d (Luke 5:39, emphasis added). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you feel bogged down right now, and all you can see are your failures, don\u2019t give up. Keep pressing on as \u201ca good soldier of Jesus Christ\u201d (2 Timothy 2:3). The Captain of our salvation is in the process of turning your life around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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