Continuing my Storyworth project, here’s how I answered, “Do you believe that people can change?”

As a Christian minister who believes that with God all things are possible (Luke 1:37), I would have to say yes. My faith in what God can do, however, is tempered by what I’ve learned from Scripture, research, as well as my own and others’ life experiences. 

Here are a few observations:

1. When it comes to change, nothing is more important than humility, or seeing yourself as needing help. James 4:7 clearly says that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. We can’t change without grace, and humility is the primary conduit or human gateway in accessing that grace. It is the pig trough where the prodigal son came to his senses (Luke 15:16-17). Psalm 119 also underscores the connection between humility– even being humbled– and change:
   • “Before I was humbled I went astray, but now I keep your word.” (67)
   • “It is good for me that I was humbled, so that I might learn your statues.” (71)
2. The research shows that there are some populations that either don’t change or rarely change (e.g., pedophiles). This was an unwelcome learning when I worked in corrections and reentry during my time with National Fatherhood Initiative. But facts don’t care about how we feel about them, and this is one that, 20 years ago,  jarred me out of my naivete and continues to sober me. While there is no one beyond hope or the mercy of God, there really are some people who are dangerous or potentially so.
3. While there are radically evil people who spend their entire lives doing flagrant wickedness– even hiding who they really are, there are others, it seems, whose propensity for horrendous acts manifests later. They may have struggled with some aberrant or distorted desire (maybe even behavior) in younger years. This desire and/or behavior lies dormant, is mitigated, or kept quietly in check for years only to manifest itself later in exponential ways. The catalyst for that escalation or eruption seems to be some combination of pride (manifested as blindness or a profound lack of self-awareness), extreme woundedness, and/or significant emotional unhealthiness that is triggered by and morphs into a deep-seated anger and bitterness. Here are a few verses that speak to or hint at this kind of scenario:
   • “The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.” (Gen. 4:6-7)
   • “When an unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ When it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes along and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So will it be also with this evil generation.” (Matt. 12:42-45)
   • “Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil.” Another translation says do not let the devil get a foothold. (Eph. 4:26-27)
4. Like cancer that defies a cure, it shouldn’t surprise us if there are blind spots in someone’s perspective or character, severe wounds, or even relational dynamics that also defy healing or a change in this life. Consistent with this, one clinical psychologist shared with me over lunch that, in his extensive counseling experience, there are some individuals who don’t seem to have the capacity to “get it” or change. Again, in sync with #1 above, I want to lean into a lavish optimism that is rooted in faith and hope (confidence) in God’s promises, but we live in a world that is profoundly broken– sometimes beyond repair in this life. Indeed, sometimes all we can do is cry out to God for a miracle, even in working with ourselves, and long for the day when God will put all things right (Rev. 22:20). 

What about you? Do you believe people can change? What have you observed? I’d love to hear your thoughts.