Since I cannot see the change of autumn with leaves turning colors in the trees and creating a beautiful landscape, I have become obsessed with pumpkin spice. Living in Southern California, I know it is the season of autumn with all the pumpkin spice lattes, bakery items, and Trader Joe’s delightful foods that add pumpkin into it. We have one street in Los Angeles where the trees change colors. The weather is not cool, as we are experiencing a small heat wave. So, we rely on the treats that give our physical bodies comfort.
As much as I love summer, the pumpkin spice lattes have given me a reason to look forward to autumn. My favorite season is summer. As a young person and now as a teacher, it is a season of rest and fun. When autumn comes, we are back in the dull routine of school, work, and fun comes on the weekends. If I’m being honest, what really scares me about autumn is the idea that change is coming. Even though I am someone who likes change or rather the end result of change, like everyone else, I do not like the process of change.
Change comes into our lives at all seasons, but autumn reminds us that change must come so that we can grow. When the leaves fall from the trees, and the weather becomes cooler (in some parts of America), we begin to prepare ourselves for a new season. God has given us the seasons to remind us that we must change so we can grow.
If every season was summer, most people would not be productive. We would become content and comfortable. Once something comes along that disrupts our comfort, we whine and cry out to God wondering where he is. He’s right where he always is. God doesn’t change because God doesn’t need to grow. We must change so we can grow.
Change is painful because it leads us into the unknown, but we can lessen the pain with changing our attitude about change. We must understand that change is necessary for us to grow. Children change as they grow. They grow so fast. They don’t complain about the growth and changes until adults create the complaints for them. Children face the growth eagerly with anticipation that the result will be amazing. Imagine if as adults we had that same attitude.
If we faced change in our relationships that it will be amazing if we change our habits, we will be willing to change habits. If we faced change in careers or jobs that it will be great in the end, we would enjoy the process of finding a new career. If we faced change in the church that the result will be amazing with more people coming to Jesus, we will see more people come to Jesus. It’s not about changing the process or methods. It’s about changing our hearts to allow God to work with us with the change.
We must be ready to change. We must change our hearts from an attitude of arrogance to humility. We must be willing to allow change into our lives so that we can influence others. We don’t have to change our moral values or our theology. We can, however, change how we think about those who have different moral values and theology than us. Instead of arguing and complaining, especially online, we can allow others to teach us how they came to their ideas of theology and morals.
For the past few years, I have had a change of heart about how to treat those who think differently from me politically. I listen to their point of view. If I ask questions, I try to frame them with a heart of learning and not a heart of bashing. This has become a huge change for me. I post less on social media, as I have discovered that many people do not respond to sarcasm or cynicism. Besides, I have also learned that those two actions are unbecoming for healthy relationships.
We must change our attitudes of how we see people. We must see others as fellow human beings. Jesus saw people for their humanity. He didn’t excuse or overlook their sins, but he saw their humanity. Imagine the power the church would have over the world if we saw the humanity in people, especially those who believe and think differently than us. It would be a beautiful world. The world is waiting and watching for Christians to take a step forward. Let us step forward and change our hearts to see the humanity of people.
The process of seeing the humanity of people will be allowing the deadness of our words to drop and cease. We will get tired. We will have to cool down from the emotions, but in the end, as we see people meet Jesus, it will be worth it. Our goal was never to have better morals than others. It was always to bring people into the presence of Jesus. If we don’t do that, then the words that we use are unnecessary. Let’s make a change and change the world with us.
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