A thought by Rick Warren from his book. God's Power to Change Your Life (Living with Purpose) (p. 34). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)
Ok, I want to change so there is a part in this that I must do.
Rick says, “We can’t just passively sit around doing nothing and expect to grow.”
“We must carefully choose what we think about. Proverbs 4:23, in the Good News Translation, says, ‘Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.’ Someone once said, ‘You’re not what you think you are, but what you think, you are.’ That is, if you are going to change your life, you have to change your thought patterns. Change always begins with new thinking.
“How does a person become a Christian? By repenting. Repentance is often a misunderstood term. I used to think of it as a man standing on a street corner with a sign that says, ‘Turn or burn!’ However, the Greek word for repentance is metanoia, and it means to change your mind or perspective. When I became a Christian, I changed my perspective on many things. Romans 12:2 says that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds — not by willpower.
“The Bible teaches that the way we think determines the way we feel, and the way we feel determines the way we act. So if you want to change your actions, you have to go back to the source and change the way you think. Sometimes you may act resentful. Why? Because you feel resentful. Do you know why you feel resentful? Because you are thinking resentful thoughts. The same is true for anger and worry and many other kinds of destructive thought patterns.”
Rick goes on, “Imagine you have a speedboat and the speedboat has an automatic pilot. The boat is heading east, and you decide you want to go west. You want to make a 180-degree turn. There are two ways to do that. The automatic pilot is heading the boat east, but you can grab the steering wheel and turn the boat around by sheer force. Now the boat is heading west, but the whole time that you’re forcing it by willpower to go west, you are under tension. That’s because the boat is naturally inclined to go the other way. You are tense and uptight, and soon you become tired. You know what happens then. You let go of the ‘wheel’ and … you go off the diet, or you start smoking again, or you stop exercising, or you slip back into your old patterns of relating to your family. The truth is, trying to force yourself to change by sheer will-power seldom produces lasting results.
“The other way to change the direction of your boat is to adjust the automatic pilot. Now, the ‘automatic pilot’ in your life is your thoughts… But you can be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Don’t focus on your actions. Don’t focus on your feelings. People often say, ‘I’m going to be more loving’ or ‘I’m going to be happy if it kills me.’ But forcing a feeling doesn’t work. Simply focus on changing your thoughts.”
So, you start to change by starting on the inside. So will you strive to change your thoughts?
Yes, yes!
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