Have you ever tried to change your ways but couldn’t make any meaningful progress? Each attempt seems to require so much willpower, yet you wonder why doing other things comes naturally?
If that’s you, you were likely going about it the wrong way.
Consider why our normal behaviors don’t require much willpower. They are rooted in the way we think. Over time, we developed a certain mindset, and certain habits formed based on it.
For example, two people might be in the same job, earning the same amount of money.
One of them may have come from a horrible work environment where they weren’t paid on time or fairly. The other may have come from a prosperous family business where they were a little overpaid and didn’t need to work as much.
Each of their past experiences formed how they think about jobs.
The first person thinks of the new job as God’s blessing; therefore, they are happy with their pay and work faithfully.
The other person sees the same job as horrible and so complains and doesn’t put in effort. The unhappy one can’t become like the other without first changing how they think about the job.
Likewise, any change you are trying to make must begin with a change of thinking to be successful.
When the thinking changes, the new behavior will come naturally.
This is why the Bible says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” (Romans 12:2 NIV).
The Wise Believer understands that how they think is the root, and so they target the root to change the fruit.
