I try to be open to change but it can be really difficult to have an open mind. I have a somewhat definitive sense as to what is “me” and what is not “me.” As I move forward in my spiritual journey, I find that I need to keep a rather loose sense as to who I am and what I’m about. There are obviously certain things about me that are unalterable as a follower of Christ but not as many as some might think. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and I believe he rose from the dead. I know I’m going to heaven when I die and I believe the Bible is the word of God. That being said, I’m always trying to stay open to change.

When it comes to how I view finances, politics, other religions, other people and pretty much everything else, I have so much to learn. Growth begins to slow down when I begin to say that my view on a certain topic is fixed and I’m done learning in that area. There are always angles that you have not considered and approaches you have not taken. When it comes to the way I eat, work, handle my money, parent and basically live my life, I always want to be flexible enough to continue to grow. I want to be able to consider things from all angles and if someone’s approach works better than mine, I hope I’m not too prideful to throw mine to the side and embrace something new.

This idea of flexibility is especially important for married couples because marriage is all about growth and change. You should never get to a place where you think you have it all figured out. You can always be wrong in different ways and you should always be open to the possibility that your spouse has a better idea than you. I think that this high level of openness that is so important to living comes from the belief that God is infinitely bigger than we are. Isaiah 55:9 says, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” The fact that God is so big helps me to somewhat grasp the truth that I’m so small. The more I understand how much further I have to go, the more open I am to embracing new ways of looking at the world and new ways of doing things.

Where could you stand to be more open to change? What are you going to do about it?