Answers
By BGEA Admin • July 18, 2022 • Topics: Relationships
Q:
I grew up an only child in a wealthy environment abroad. My parents indulged me in every way and left discipline to my au pair who wanted only to please my parents. I took advantage of my freedom and as I grew older, I worked the system, getting what I wanted when I wanted it. I am now a mother and spoiled and my marriage is in trouble. While I’ve seen the bad results of my raising and the damage it’s caused—particularly in my relationships—it’s hard to believe that I can really change from what’s ingrained in me. My sweet mother-in-law says it is possible through Jesus Christ. Really?
A:
From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham
History vividly illustrates what the Bible clearly affirms, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Education and discipline can do no more than rub off the rough edges of human selfishness—but Christ alone, the divine Son of God, has power to change the human heart. And He does. Christ can take the most sin-laden, selfish, evil person and bring forgiveness and new life. The Bible says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). His power to change the human heart is further proof of His divine nature.
Yes, Jesus Christ is who He said He is: God Himself in human form. And that is a crucial truth that undergirds the reality of our salvation. Only the divine Savior could die as the perfect and complete sacrifice for our sins. Only the divine Lord can tell us how we should live. Only the risen and ascended Son of God is worthy of our worship and our obedience. When we confess Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, His Spirit comes to reside in us and transforms us.
(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)
