Change Before You Have To

Tonight at Collide, one of our Pastors Mike Ash spoke to us about change, and what happens when we don't do what we know we need to do. He gave us 6 different areas of our lives to begin to change. 

• Physically
• If people in your family are overweight, you know there is a good chance of you becoming like that too if you don't do anything about it. Change yourself before you have to. Start working out. Even if it's just walking. Do something.
• Spiritually
• Pray, Read your Bible daily, Attend Church, and most importantly Apply it to your life. Live it out.
• Emotionally
• Bitterness- Who are you avoiding? Who do you have bitterness towards? Think positive thoughts about that person.
• Victim Mentality- Get rid of that. The world isn't out to get you, I promise.
• Past hurts- Most people probably deal with this one. You need to surface that past hurt, talk about it, and don't let it stop you from possibly making a great decision because you're afraid to get hurt again.
• Insecurities- Ding ding ding! This everyone deals with. You need to know that God love you for who you are. Not who you're trying to be, not who you want to be, but who you are. He created you that way! 
• Relationally
• There needs to be boundaries between you and the opposite sex. I know for a fact that I struggle with this one. I'm just a really friendly person. I befriend everyone, old, young, guys, girls, doesn't matter. I tend to show the same amount of care towards both sexes too, so you can see how that could be misinterpreted sometimes. I'm working on that now, and man, it's so difficult. It is needed though.
• Socially
• Who are you hanging out with? You need to be careful who you surround yourself with, because if you're hanging around with idiots who do bad things, you're more than likely going to be doing those things as well. Proverbs 13:20 "He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm" and also 1st Corinthians 15:33 "Bad company corrupts good character" Your friends do have an impact on your character, whether you think so or not.
• Financially
• Give 10%, Save 10%, and spend the rest. 

These are just a few things to think about, for you to try and begin to change, before you have to change it.