Aiming for Change

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…”—Hebrews 12:1

In order to run the race of faith, we must lay aside any weight or sin that clings so closely to us. But how do we do it? How do we aim for change?

Dallas Willard, in his book, Renovation of the Heart, writes about employing what he calls the V.I.M. if we are to orchestrate effective change in our life. “V” stands for vision. Change always begins with the desire to change. If we don’t have the desire to truly change, then anything we try to do to change our behavior will fail. If you don’t really want to change, then you never will.

The next letter we need to look at is “I” which stands for intention. Why do you want to change?  We must change not because we think it looks bad, or because we just feel a little bad about our sin, but because we know that it is sin against Almighty God. We cannot make a peace treaty with sin, or attempt to compromise with it—we must recognize sin for what it is—rebellion against God our Maker. If we fail to recognize sin for what it is we will never be able to confess and repent. Anything less fails to understand the true nature of sin.

The third and final letters is “M” which stands for means. Most Christians, in their desire to change only follow the first two letters. They have a desire to change (Vision) because they want to stop sinning against God (Intention), but they fail to take the third, final, and most crucial step—employing the means to stop it.

For example, if I have a problem with alcohol, I may want to stop and I want to stop (Vision) because I know that what I am doing is sin (Intention). But, if I don’t take the steps to stop it from happening (Means), then I am really not aiming for true change. If I struggle with alcohol, the first step I am going to take is to get the alcohol out of my house. If I am struggling with going to the bar and getting drunk on my route home after work, then I am going to change the route I take home, or make sure that I only have enough money in my wallet to get home, and nothing more. I’m going to make sure that I come up with a specific means for stopping my sin.

How about you? What is the sin that you want to stop doing? Do you have the vision to stop? What about the right intention? And last of all, are you ready to put the proper means into place? If you want to follow Jesus, you must be ready to get rid of any weight that is keeping you from running unencumbered and be ready to throw off any sin that is getting in the way. Don’t hesitate, apply the right V.I.M. and do it now! Amen.