Change Yourself? - The Leopard - The Character of Creatures

This is a chapter from the book The Character of Creatures: What the Animal Kingdom Teaches Us About God and His Word.

Change Yourself? – The Leopard

Did you know that many animals with stripes and spots have their markings not just on their fur, but on their skin? If you have to shave one—like for a surgery—you can still see their markings. The leopard is an animal that is beautifully camouflaged with spots called rosettes that can be either black or orange, but the leopard cannot change their color or their spots.

God has established the colors of the leopard to show us:

Can the leopard change his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil. ~ Jeremiah 13:23

Discussion:

1.      “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot” (Romans 8:7). If we cannot change our minds, hearts, skin, or desires, then how can we be saved? We need God to do it! And he can do it! “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).

2.     Did you know God chose your parents, your nation, your time on earth, and your genetics to be unique to you? People sometimes get mad at God and want to change the things he has assigned to them. There are certain things we need to be content with because God gave them to us, like our bodies, our ministries, and the time we live in. Read Jeremiah 29:7 and Acts 9:15.

3.     Ask your parents, your pastor, or a Christian friend to share their testimony with you. Ask if they ever tried to change something about themselves before they met Jesus. Then ask them about how Jesus actually did change their heart.

Lord, now indeed I find;
Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the [leopard’s] spots;
And melt the heart of stone. ~ Elvina Hall, Jesus Paid It All