"The problem with how we attack our problems is that we go after the problem."

A thought by Craig Groeschel from his book, Winning the War in Your Mind (p. 83). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)

Okay, that makes since.

Craig says, "We focus solely on the behavior by making a commitment to start or stop doing something."

He goes on, "You’ve done this too, right? You’ve decided, perhaps even declared, that you were going to change.

I’m going to quit smoking on January 1st!
This year I’m going to eat healthy and exercise every day!
I’m going to stop dating anyone who is mean to me. In fact, I’m not going to date at all!
I’m tired of wasting my time on social media and comparing my life with everyone else’s. I’m getting off for good this time!
That’s it. This is the last time. I will never look at pornography again!
I’m not going to exaggerate or lie or gossip to get attention or feel better about myself.
No more! I’m going to read the Bible every morning this whole year!"

Hr continues, "Whatever your vow was, how did it go? I would guess not well. Why? Behavior modification doesn’t work, because the focus is only on modifying behavior. You don’t get to the root of the problem, which is the thought that produces the behavior. To be more specific, the problem is the neural pathway that leads to the behavior."

He says, "Thinking I can change a behavior just by removing the behavior is absurd. The behavior isn’t the root problem. The neural pathway that leads me to the behavior is the problem. If I stop a behavior, it will come back, unless I

remove the lie at the root of the behavior,
and replace the neural pathway that leads me to the behavior."

He later the says, "To stop the lies and replace them with truth, we need to look to God’s Word. Remember, that’s the weapon God gives us for the battle we are fighting. His truth is what can set us free, and we are going to choose specific Bible verses to create a new neural pathway that applies directly to our problem. Using his Word, we will create a trench of truth."

We must remove and replace. And God's Word is where we create a new neural pathway that applies directly to our problem. And we want to win the war, don't we?

Yes, yes!

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Just Continue That Thought...

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