Real Change

“Amanconvinced against his will is of the same opinion still.”

This quote stands the test of time because it’s true. One person cannot force another to change his/her opinion from A to B. The listener may be persuaded willingly, or coerced into professing what he does not believe, but one person can’t change another’s inner thoughts by force.

Sadly, many people don’t believe this truth, either on an interpersonal level or a global scale. How many lives are lost as one group tries to force an ideology onto another? How many children are lost to parents who try to force behavioral change through coercion? How many spouses, employers or overlords have bullied others into submission, only to be met with resentment that manifests itself in hidden and costly ways?

Yet God, who is the only One with an actual right to “bully” us, does not. Rather, God invites us to grow in faith willingly, just as a plant freely reaches toward sunlight without external pressure.

The Greek word “auxano” is translated throughout the New Testament as “growth.” But it’s not just any kind of growth; it describes an internal growth that happens in partnership with God. It’s used in references to plants, the Christian church and individuals. In I Cor. 3:6 & 7, (NIV) Paul writes: I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow [auxano]. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow [auxano].

The word is also used in Ephesians 4:14: Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow (auxano) up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

Love invites us to embrace the most powerful kind of growth and change possible.

A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still. But a man who willingly embraces the love of God is in for the journey of his life – one of growth, discovery and healthy changes that reach to the deepest places of the heart. ❚

– Janine Pumilia