“Why Don’t I Feel Different?”

Why doesn’t faith feel different… even when you believe it’s real?

In this episode of Bible, Basically, we step into one of the most honest struggles in Scripture — the tension between wanting to change and still feeling stuck. If you’ve ever wondered why you still wrestle with the same thoughts, habits, or patterns, you’re not alone… and you’re not broken.

We walk through what the Bible actually says about transformation, why it doesn’t happen overnight, and how real change often happens quietly, over time. Because maybe the fact that you feel the tension… is a sign something is already changing.

Bible, Basically — figuring out faith, together.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 2:10

Welcome back to Bible basically, where we are figuring out faith together. I I wanted to start off today by just touching on a couple little housekeeping items very quickly. First of all, thank you guys so much for listening. Podcast in terms of brand new baby podcasts is doing very well. I think I had a couple audio glitches in the last one. I apologize. Hopefully, that does not happen this time. I'm trying to get that worked out. If it does, please bear with me. It's just me out of my office basically producing and editing everything. So second of all, or third of all, however, you I don't know, whatever. I my brain is frazzled. Look, I want to encourage you guys. I am I am, and this may sound hypocritical because I have a biblically based podcast. If I or the internet is your only source of intake for God's word and for biblically based content, I want to ask you guys to seek more. Open the book, open the Bible, read the Bible, consume its content as much as you consume others. And please find a church home, find a church family, because while this is a great learning tool, the internet in general is a great learning tool, and we can find a lot of answers to a lot of questions. The only way to know that you're getting the right answers and the right information is by understanding the actual book itself, the Bible. And the only way you're going to be able to grow properly is by fellowshipping with other Christians. So I while I love that you listen and I want you to continue to listen, not for me, but for you, I want you to go out and seek others that are seeking also. And for those of you who who follow us on Instagram, you may have seen the the teaser, you know. And basically today we're talking about you know, why don't I feel different? Last week we talked about Easter, we talked about the resurrection, what do we do if it's all true? And yeah, so if it's all true, it commands a response, right? So let's say you've made that response. You you acknowledge you've agreed to to acknowledge Jesus as your Lord and Savior and to let him into your heart. Wow. Dennis, great. I don't feel any different. And I'll be honest, I thought it would feel different. Right? I thought I would feel like this overwhelming transformation to do good. I thought that once I believed that something instantly would shift, that it'd be noticeable, that it would be immediate, like some sort of instant weight would lift, that the struggle in my head would die down, like I'd finally feel changed. But I didn't. Instead, I still wrestle. I still fall back into the same patterns. I still think that. Well, I I still think things I I wish I didn't think, to be honest. And there's this quiet question that starts to creep in, especially for those who are new. And it's did did did anything actually happen? Or am I just the same person and just calling it something different? So I want to tell you, if you have ever felt that, or if you're feeling that now, you're not broken, you're not alone, and you're most certainly not the first person to wrestle with it.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

We're gonna talk about Romans 7, 15 through 19.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

Paul in Romans 15, or Romans 7, 15, excuse me, says, for I do not understand my own actions, for I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

SPEAKER_00 7:33

That's not weakness. That's honesty.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

He's he he only he doesn't know what he's doing half the time, as far as his nature, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:51

In verse 18, he says, For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. He wants to do good, he wants to be better. But on his own he can't.

SPEAKER_01 8:13

Paul isn't describing someone far from God, he's describing someone who knows what's right and still struggles to live it out.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

This applies to the newest, from the newest Christian all the way through the most tried and tested.

SPEAKER_01 8:33

Leaf doesn't instantly erase struggle.

SPEAKER_00 8:35

In fact, it doesn't erase it at all. As Christians, we're meant to struggle. We're fighting our very nature.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

One or two of you may notice I didn't publish this podcast yesterday on Sunday, which is typically the day that I drop the new episodes. I was struggling yesterday. I was struggling. Ironically, a couple episodes ago, I was talking about anxiety and not being anxious and how Jesus himself said, do not be anxious about your life.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

And my problem yesterday wasn't anxiety, it was depression. And I'll be honest, I don't know about what.

SPEAKER_01 9:50

And I prayed, and I I have my faith, and I love my God, and I know he can do all things.

SPEAKER_00 10:00

But I'm human. And I still struggle. I still struggle with it.

SPEAKER_01 10:13

In 2 Timothy 3.12, Bible says, indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. I don't think that's just for about people persecuting you. I don't think that. I think that you're going to be persecuted, you're going to struggle.

SPEAKER_00 10:37

Faith doesn't remove difficulty.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

Faith doesn't change our nature. Faith doesn't change who we are.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

Sometimes it exposes it. And yesterday in particular, I tried all day. I prayed. Should have gone to church. I keep telling you guys to do it, and I didn't do it yesterday. I gave in to that thought in my head that said, no, you just don't, you just can't today.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

You just can't.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

And I'm here to tell you that was a mistake. That was a mistake. As Christians, we're gonna make mistakes, we're gonna make poor decisions. If you ask my wife, I make them all the time. Right now she's nodding her head.

SPEAKER_01 12:02

Romans 7 19 says, For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. This is Paul writing. There's a tension here. There's two forces pulling in opposite directions. There is our nature and the way we know we need to be. Prior to starting your journey with Christ, you were just giving in to the one, and it was easy. That was your nature. You just did whatever you wanted. But this is the reality of transformation. It's not instant perfection, it is internal conflict.

SPEAKER_00 13:23

And I'm not trying to scare you off. And some people might be scared and say, I don't want that. But I'm here to tell you the juice is worth the squeeze. The reward is worth the effort. Transformation, again, is not instant perfection.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

It is internal conflict. And this is where a lot of people can't handle it. You know, if this was real, I'd be different. If God was working, I wouldn't still struggle. But scripture never promises instant change, it promises a process. And the Bible tells us that that process at one point will be complete. We just have to wait. Philippians one six says, He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

And that word completion implies time. I hear all the time that change isn't like a light switch. And that is one hundred percent true. You don't become a different person overnight. You begin becoming a different person. Change is a direction, not a moment.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

Romans twelve, two says, be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Renewal is ongoing, it's not a switch, it's a process. And even Paul, after all this struggle in Romans 7, he says, Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. He doesn't or hope doesn't come from perfection.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

It comes from grace. Hope doesn't come from perfection. It comes from grace. If you still struggle, it doesn't mean nothing happened. In fact, if you're struggling, it might mean something did happen. Because now you see it. Now you feel it.

SPEAKER_01 16:45

Now you're aware of it. That tension, that's not failure. That's evidence of change beginning. Look, maybe you expected more by now. More change, more clarity, more distance from the person that you used to be. But instead, you're now in the middle. You're not who you were, but you're not who you thought you'd be yet either. And that can be frustrating, disappointing, even, confusing. But maybe that space is exactly where transformation happens. Not all at once, not instantly, but slowly, intentionally, over time. Because faith was never about becoming perfect overnight. It's about becoming something different over time. So if you don't feel different yet, don't panic. You might already be in the middle of that change. Thank you so much for listening.

SPEAKER_00 18:06

It's Bible basically, where we're figuring out faith together.