Over Overcoming

 

"We don't so much solve our problems as we outgrow them. We add capacities and experiences that eventually make us bigger than the problems.” This line belongs to Carl Jung, one of the modern psychology guru.

You’ll never do anything different or better unless you want to. And that desire—true want-to—won’t arise until your perspective grows enough to outweigh the pull of comfort, fear, or resistance. Real transformation begins not with behavior modification but with a shift in focus—from ourselves to something, to Someone, greater.

So many sermons focus on changing behavior:

“Do this, don’t do that.”

“You should, you must, you ought.”

“That’s wrong, stop it.”

But this approach often fails. Why? Because it imposes obligation without sparking motivation. It’s inward-focused, relying on our own willpower, rather than pointing us outward - toward Christ.

The truth is, victory over sin isn’t something we achieve by trying harder. That message, while common, actually mirrors paganism: “The answer lies within you.” But the gospel offers something better. Victory over sin is a byproduct, not a goal. It flows naturally when we see Jesus more clearly - when we fall in love with Him as we grasp the depth of His love for us.

This is the heart of what the Bible calls the New Covenant (2 Cor. 3:6; Heb. 10:16; Gal. 3–4). Anything else, no matter how spiritual it sounds, is just self-help dressed up as Christianity.

You’ll know you're hearing the false gospel when it makes you feel guilty and pressured:
"The preacher’s right... I really need to..."

You’ll know you’re hearing the true gospel when it fills you with wonder and desire:
"God is so beautiful... I want to..."

The sense of innocence before God is not a delusional sense that you haven't done anything wrong, but a rational-emotional sense that God relates to you as if you were innocent, without condemnation, simply and profoundly because He loves you and therefore relates to you according to your potential rather than according to your failures.

When was the last time you inquired Him of how to change you from inside out?

 

The Unusual Second Life of...

 

This man spent his life doing nothing meaningful. He watched movies endlessly, became an expert at video games, and worked a dull 9-to-5 job. No friends, no family, just a distant uncle. Not even a pet to keep him company. His days were a monotonous cycle: work, movies, games, sleep, then repeat.

By the time he reached his fifties, he realized he had done nothing else with his life. Then, one day, he was in a car crash… and woke up in his childhood bedroom, 12 years old again. Incredible. A second chance to live life differently.

This is the premise of The Unusual Second Life of Thomas by S. Inmon. A fascinating idea but, of course, pure fiction. Life doesn’t work that way.

Do you ever feel like life has slipped through your fingers—that you haven’t truly lived it to its fullest? That your days blend into one another, leaving you wondering if you’ve made a difference?

We often dream of second chances, of waking up one day with the opportunity to rewrite our story. But life isn’t a novel, and time doesn’t rewind. The truth is, we don’t need a miraculous reset to start living with purpose. The second chance we long for isn’t in some distant future, it’s right here, in this moment.

Jesus didn’t call us to wait for another life to begin living meaningfully. He called us to invest in what matters now—to love, to serve, to give, to make an impact that lasts beyond our own fleeting days.

Because in the end, it won’t be about how much we entertained ourselves, how comfortable we were, or how many years we let pass in routine. It will be about the lives we touched, the love we shared, and the purpose we embraced.

So don’t wait for a replay. Don’t wait for tomorrow. Start now. Love deeply. Give freely. Live intentionally. 

The real second life isn’t about going back - it’s about moving forward, toward something far greater than we can imagine.