Principle #4: Life Change Is a Responsibilityīut with the gift comes responsibility. Only God can make you love your spouse unconditionally, even if you get nothing in return. Only God can make you into the mom or dad that your kids never dreamed they could have. But only God can change your life from the inside out. The moment that happens, your past is put behind you, the spirit of God comes in, and your sins are forgiven. Principle #2: Life Change Demands That We Act on the TruthĬhrist won the victory over sin, but you don't become a co-partaker of Christ's victory until the moment you receive Christ as your personal savior by faith. Christianity is about a relationship with Christ, and part of being in that relationship is receiving from Him the power to change. Christianity isn't about a code of ethics. But He's not asking you to try harder or do better. He wants you to walk in a manner worthy of your calling. Here are five principles of metamorphosis, of life change, that I believe can help bring you or any believer out of the cocoon and into a transformed life. If that's where you are today, or if that describes someone you know, what I'm about to share is going to be a tremendous blessing for you. You want to change, but you feel as if you're still stuck in the cocoon. You're still struggling with the same stuff.

But you've realized that you're still sinning a lot. Then you tried hard to be good for three or four days, or weeks, or years.

Perhaps you went to camp or a church service and prayed to receive Christ. And without that, there's no real change. And that's the core, the basis for the metamorphosis of the believer. Why? Most likely it's because these believers got a little bit of the Easter story, but never fully understood the foundational truths of what was accomplished by Christ's death and resurrection. It doesn't affect their integrity at work, their sexual expression, their commitment to marriage, or their principles of parenting. It doesn't change where they spend their time or how they arrange their priorities. Sadly, recent research from both Gallup and Barna indicates that the decision to follow Christ makes surprisingly little difference in how the average American believer lives. Ask any butterfly if God has changed its life, and the answer will be a resounding YES! But according to the respected Gallup and Barna research organizations, you wouldn't get the same response from the average American who believes in Christ.

Chip ingram transformed