Changed

On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

– Mark 2:17

Early followers of Jesus were called Little Christs because their newfound faith had transformed their lives for all to see. This odd group of people from all walks of life — rich and poor, male and female, slave and free — were markedly different from the rest of society. They somehow had grown more caring and generous toward both neighbors and strangers alike, and they willingly sacrificed their time and resources to ease sorrow and correct injustice. Ultimately, they had abandoned their old, selfish tendencies in favor of something much greater.

In a word, they were changed.

And that says a lot for their leader — an obscure rabbi from a distant corner of the Roman Empire who just happened to be God’s own Son. Few recognized that at the time. But because some did and led changed lives while following Jesus, millions in future generations would in turn help to change the world for the better. 

Like those first disciples transformed by the words of the Sermon on the Mount, modern-day Believers like you and me should recognize that Jesus the Leader was also Jesus the Follower. Christ spoke constantly with his Father (God) in prayer and always sought his guidance: 

“I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing,” explained Jesus, “because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”

Whether you’ve followed Jesus for five days or 55 years, grasp every opportunity to become more like him, walk in his ways, and see the world through his eyes. What’s more, ask God to work through you with the Holy Spirit — that personal, loving Power, who makes it possible to leave your old self behind and transform into a new creation. 

That’s the change that makes all the difference. And gradually, through the trials of life and the whispers of his leadings, we’ll become the men and women our Creator always intended us to be.