How is it that we change after we are saved?

When criminals who have been in prison for a long time are released, they often have difficulty adjusting to their new life and re-integrating into society. Some ex-prisoners are released with just a few dollars and the clothes on their backs with no family to help them out. The chances of someone in this situation committing a crime and returning to prison are very high.

However, some people have started working with ex-prisoners to help them get job training, secure a place to live and share the love of Jesus with them. Giving them the skills they need and a new purpose for life can have a huge impact on whether they will return to prison.

More Than Just Salvation
We all start life as sinners in need of a savior. The Bible describes us as spiritually dead and having hearts of stone. God could have just offered a means of forgiveness and left it at that, but He didn’t. He went bigger than that…much bigger!

Through faith in Jesus Christ, God not only promises forgiveness, but He promises to give us a new (living) spirit. He promises to remove our old heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh, one that is living and compassionate. God doesn’t just forgive us, He changes our life…He gives us life!!

It is because of this new heart that we can love God and start to live as one of God’s children. Sometimes we can feel like it’s all up to us to live for Jesus. To use the analogy above, it’s like God got us released from prison and then said, “Good luck.”

That’s not how it works at all, God has given us new life and is constantly working in us to change our hearts and minds to be more like His. He not only gives us good works to do but works in us the will to do them.