When talking to people when they believe they have come to God that He has changed their lives. They confess that they were this or that or that they used to do this or that and now God changed them and they are not the same person.

Does God change you or do you change yourself?

Let’s look into what God says about this.

Bereishis/Genesis 4:7

“Surely, if you improve yourself, you will be forgiven.”

Ezekiel 18:21, 27, 28

“As for the wicked man, if he repents from all his sins that he commited, and he OBSERVES, all My decrees and PRACTICES justice and righteousness, he shall surely live and not die. – And if the wicked man TURNS AWAY from his wickedness that he did and PERFORMS justice and righteousness, HE will cause his souls to live. BECAUSE he contemplated and repented from his transgressions that he did he shall surely live and not die.”

What most do not get is that repentance is an action word. It requires the one repenting to do something – it is not a blanket prayer of saying sorry and continuing on as usual.

We get our first instructions on the subject of repentance from our Creator in Bereishis 4.

“Improve yourself”

Repentance requires you to make the changes that will improve your life – when you quit doing wrong you start doing what God has told us to do.

It is the fact that YOU stopped doing what was wrong and doing what is right that has made the changes in your life.

You start doing right for the sake of God in Whom you are building a relationship with now.

The Torah’s way to God is opposite from Christianity were they want their god to do everything for them and they set back and enjoy free rewards.

The God of the Torah and Israel requires man to work and to toil and that even includes changing his life that brings forgiveness.

He tells us that we cause our souls to live because we contemplated and repented from our transgressions. We take it to heart our actions and changed them and this brings on life and not death.

So, does God change you or do you change yourself?

Terry W. Hayes

10/2012