Tiger Woods’ statement concerning his numerous affairs took on all the appearances of a presidential speech. Security was tight, the facility, crowd, press and content were tightly controlled. Anyone that watched the statement could see that this was designed to be a first public step to begin to repair his damaged public image. Whether you believe Tiger was really sincere or is willing to do what it takes, is a matter of personal opinion. Only time will provide that answer.  I hope that he can make it.

There is a part of his statement that we need to pay particular to. At one point he said, “Part of following this path for me is Buddhism, which my mother taught me at a young age. People probably don’t realize it, but I was raised a Buddhist and I actively practiced my faith from childhood until I drifted away from it in recent years.  Buddhism teaches [that] a craving for things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security.  It teaches me to stop following every impulse and to learn restraint. Obviously I lost track of what I was taught.”

The Bible teaches us that we are sinners by nature and by choice. It is impossible for us to change our behavior permanently on our own. A change of behavior only comes where there is a change of heart. In dealing with hundreds of people who have had every type of personal problem that you can imagine, I have found that those who just make the commitment to change their behavior rarely make it.   There has to be true repentance and there has to be a change of heart.  When there is a change of heart then and only then will there be a lasting change of behavior.

This Sunday we’ll be talking about having a better marriage.  The truths that we will be looking at from the Word of God are always effective no matter how famous, how rich or how ordinary you might be. There is a word here for all of us. I am sure that many people watching today were impressed with his commitment to change his behavior and will see that as a real commitment, but that is impossible without a change of heart. You are surrounded by people who feel exactly that way. Why not invite them to join you for worship on Sunday and hear about the principles that will make a real and lasting difference.