Have I Really Changed?
Daily Devotional — Thursday, November 5, 2026
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” — John 15:4–5, NKJV
Heart Change Insight
Sometimes we make a change that looks exactly right from the outside.
We stop doing something destructive. We become more disciplined. We start showing up, serving, apologizing, keeping our commitments, or responding more carefully. Those things matter. Obedience matters.
Still, there is another question worth asking:
Have I really changed, or am I trying very hard to produce a better version of myself?
When Good Isn’t the Same as Godly
I use the phrase good flesh for something that can be difficult to recognize precisely because it often looks good.
Good flesh isn’t necessarily bad behavior. It’s our attempt to produce something good through our own strength instead of through connection with God.
We may genuinely want to be a good parent, spouse, leader, employee, Christian, or friend. The goal itself may be healthy. We work harder, become more responsible, control our reactions, and try to do everything we know we’re supposed to do.
Yet underneath all that effort, we may still be depending primarily on ourselves.
In Communion — Spirit Deep Dive, I describe good flesh very simply: I’m trying to do what God called me to do, but I’m doing it in my own strength. That distinction is easy to miss because nothing about the activity itself necessarily looks wrong.
We can even be “doing everything we’re supposed to do” and still be disconnected from the very life of God that produces His fruit.
Changing From the Inside Out
Jesus gives us a much better picture in John 15. A branch doesn’t grit its teeth and manufacture grapes. Fruit develops because the branch remains connected to the vine.
That’s the difference between behavior management and heart change.
External discipline can produce a behavior. In some settings, authority, consequences, structure, or sheer willpower can create compliance. We can get a behavior without getting heart change.
That doesn’t make structure or obedience wrong. Sometimes doing the right thing before we feel like doing it is exactly what obedience requires.
But real transformation keeps going deeper.
Our spirit, soul, and body begin coming into alignment. What God is doing in our spirit begins shaping our thoughts, choices, emotions, words, and actions. The behavior becomes more than something we’re forcing ourselves to maintain. It increasingly becomes fruit.
That is why the question isn’t merely, Did I stop doing the old thing?
We can also ask, What is producing the new thing?
Am I becoming more connected to God or more impressed with my own discipline? More peaceful or simply more controlled? More humble or quietly proud that I’m doing better than I used to?
Have I Really Changed? Look at the Source
Good flesh eventually becomes exhausting because we’re trying to produce through human effort what can only become truly lifegiving through dependence on God.
That doesn’t mean we stop obeying. It means we stop acting as though our effort is the source.
When we recognize good flesh, the answer isn’t to throw away everything good we’ve been doing. It’s to slow down, reconnect, and give the Holy Spirit space. Then we continue in obedience from a different source.
Heart change still involves choices, discipline, and action. But those things begin flowing from receiving rather than replacing it.
So when we ask, Have I really changed?, we don’t have to become suspicious of every good behavior.
We simply look deeper. Is this becoming the fruit of abiding in Christ, or am I still trying to make a good life happen without depending on Him?
Real change grows from the inside out.
Reflection
Where in your life are you doing something good but feeling increasingly driven, pressured, or dependent on your own strength?
What might change if you stopped asking only, “Am I doing the right thing?” and also asked, “What is the source of what I’m doing?”
Prayer
Father, thank You that You don’t ask me to produce Your life through my own strength. Help me recognize the places where good effort has begun replacing dependence on You. Teach me to abide in Christ so that my obedience grows from connection rather than self-reliance. Bring my spirit, soul, and body into greater alignment as You change me from the inside out. In Jesus' name, amen.
Today's Step of Obedience
Choose one area today where you’ve been working especially hard to “get it right.” Before acting, stop for a moment and reconnect with God. Ask Him what obedience looks like, receive what you need from Him, and then take the next obedient step without treating your own effort as the source.
Grow Deeper
WATCH
Communion
Spirit Deep Dive
Explore abiding in Christ, recognizing good flesh and self-effort, slowing down, giving the Holy Spirit space, and learning to live from ongoing dependence on God.
LISTEN
Audiobook, Chapter 13
Releasing God's Life Through the Hearts of Men
Go deeper into Pastor David’s teaching on good flesh, genuine fruit, and why changing behavior isn’t the same thing as allowing connection with God to produce heart transformation.
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