I think, depending on who you ask, you would get very different answers to this question: Do people change?
Even for myself, on the one hand, my first reaction is no.
I think, for the most part, people don’t change. But it also depends on what you’re talking about.
There’s a lot of personality quirks, a lot of how you are raised, that can influence who you are and how you behave. And sometimes those things are really hard to get over, especially when you don’t see them yourself.
On the other hand, I would say people change all the time.
The friends that you might have had in middle school weren’t your friends in high school. A job you once loved has become stale and burdensome.
I think sometimes, though, we can look at this question from the negative side.
Whether they change or not, it’s often in relation to us. Those bothersome qualities, that’s what people don’t change. Or, if people do change, it’s in the context of “they don’t fit me anymore.”
But I think there’s another dimension to change that can be a good thing.
And it is believing, hoping that people can change. Not for our convenience. Not so our lives are easier. Not so they irk us less.
But for the sake of their souls.
There’s a difference between hoping someone changes because they’re annoying us and hoping someone changes because we want them to know God.
Let us pray.
Lord, help us believe that You can change people. Change their hearts. Draw them close to You. For the sake of their souls. We make this prayer for them, and for ourselves. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Keep fighting the good fight. Our Lady of Victory, pray for us.
