If you want to change

1 John 1:7 says, "If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."

If you want something to change, you must bring it into the light. This verse says that the light improves our relationships with others and purifies us. Personal growth and getting along with others...those seem to be the two most important things I can think of. I used to tell my best friend about some situation, and it would often take a bit of talking for me to figure out what the problem was. Once I could see what was wrong, I would ask, "What should I do?" She always said, "Well, noticing the problem is a good start." A lot of times, just seeing what is wrong is half-way to fixing it.

If you can see, "I don't know how to talk to my daughter," then you can imagine what needs to be said and how to say it. If you can see, "This habit of my husband is driving me nuts," then you can figure out how to communicate what you feel. Problems are not usually hard to solve; untangling them, and truly seeing them, can be quite difficult.

But in Jesus, the light to see our problems is available. He is in the light, and when we walk with Him, that light shines on us. Here are some Scriptures on light. Do you hear the Father speaking to you?

If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you." (Psalm 139:11-12)

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17)

God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. (1 John 1:5-6)

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:4-5)

Because we know God, there are answers. As I think about my own healing from hurts over the past year, I know that I have had to do a lot of work: to figure things out, to forgive, to escape bitterness. But if the Lord did not make healing possible for me in the cross, I could not have found my way in my own effort.