Can I Change Myself?

"Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard change his spots?" Jeremiah 13:23. What a curious question. Can I change the pigmentation of my skin? Can a leopard change its appearance? What can I change about myself?

A cosmetic surgeon might reply: "A great deal. I can re-sculpt your face and body. I can give you a new you."

From hair styling and coloring to body, facial, and dental re-sculpting complete makeovers are available. Erasing age telling wrinkles and skin defects, reshaping a nose, thinning out everything from eyelids to belly fat. It's all possible with a surgeon's skill, time, and my money. Yes, I can remodel myself.

But the question remains: can I change me? I can change how I look; can I change who I am? I can change my outside; can I change my inside? I can makeover my body; can I makeover my soul?

The question about the Ethiopian and the leopard is followed by a statement: "Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil." I am who I am. I can't change it.

Depressing, isn't it? If there is no hope of change, why try? If I'm destined to be rotten, then why not be as rotten as hell? If I'm locked into evil, then why not be evil to the max? If I cannot change, then why pretend to be anything other than the rogue I am?

Wait. God has something else to say: "Therefore this is what the Lord says: 'If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me'" Jeremiah 15:19. Change comes from the Lord.

Change comes through repentance. A concept lost in society and in church. We've reduced repentance to little more than, "Sorry. My bad."

Repentance that brings change is a holy sorrow over my offense against God. A sorrow so real and deep that I can do nothing other than fall at his feet, ask for his mercy, reject my sin, and embrace his righteousness.

Can I change myself? No. But what I can't do. God does.