Beliefs: The Driving Force in Our Lives! – Part 3

13 Jul Beliefs: The Driving Force in Our Lives! – Part 3

 Blog Series:

Renew Your Mind ~ Transform Your Life

In the previous two blogs, we’ve made the point that our beliefs control everything about us. We trust and act on what we believe. We do not trust and act on what we do not believe.

The problem is, as a result of living in a fallen world, we end up believing many things are not true. I gave a list here of things that are commonly believed in American culture that are not true. And, believing them and acting on them causes untold self-inflicted pain.

This is complicated by the fact that our true attitudes, values and beliefs reside in the subconscious. That means we’re not consciously aware of them. As a result, our conscious beliefs might conflict with our subconscious beliefs.

I’ve given this example before: Philippians 4:19 says, “My God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Consciously we may think we believe this. But when we have a serious financial crisis, we often experience deep anxiety. Why? Because subconsciously we don’t really believe it. Or more likely, we are concerned God might not supply all our needs on the level to which we’ve become accustomed.

So, one of the great challenges of the Christian life is to believe the truth and to bring our conscious and our subconscious beliefs into agreement. It is simple. It is not easy, but it is simple, and can be done.

 It is essential that we discover the truth

Because of the power of our beliefs in our everyday lives, it is essential that we believe the truth. That can be tricky, again, for two reasons:

1. We typically get our beliefs the same way we get the measles, by being around others who have them.
2. What we truly believe in our subconscious is often different from what we think we believe in our conscious brain.

It has to be done, nevertheless. So, we must do two things:

1. We must become serious students of Scripture. Jesus said in John 8:32, “you shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” If we don’t know the truth, we are vulnerable to ignorance and deception. Additionally, John 17:17 says, “Your word is truth.” Melding those two verses, we conclude that the better we understand the Word, the freer we will be. This implies freedom from the negative consequences of un-biblical behavior, and the ability to rise to the blessings of biblical behavior.
2. We must become serious students of wisdom. Wisdom is the skillful application of knowledge. When we take the knowledge we have and apply it skillfully to life’s problems and opportunities, it leads to great success. See what these passages say:

• • “Wisdom has the advantage of giving success.” (Ecclesiastes 10:10)
  • “How blessed is the man who finds wisdom.” (Proverbs 3:13)
  • “Wisdom is better than strength.” (Ecclesiastes 9:16)

How do we get wisdom? By working hard at it:

“Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry for insight, and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain the knowledge of God. For the Lord grants wisdom!” (Proverbs 2:2-6)

Practically, this means reading the Bible regularly, going to a church that teaches the Bible, and getting involved in a Bible study on some level (group Bible study, discipleship relationship, online study).

If you are busy, it can be hard work. The only thing harder might be to not become a serious student of Scripture wisdom, and pay the cause/effect price.

It is essential that we embrace the truth

After we have discovered the truth, we must be sure that we embrace the truth, both on a conscious and subconscious level. We can do this by identifying areas of dissonance in our lives. If we are worried about something, if we are anxious about something, if we are angry about something, these negative emotional responses can be used to trigger a search for the truth that we might not be believing.

For example, if we are deeply frustrated because we are not able to succeed at something that we have worked very hard to do, we may not be truly believing one or more of these biblical truths:

• God will cause all things to work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purposes.(Romans 8:28)
• The sufferings of this present life will be richly rewarded in heaven… we will be disproportionately rewarded in heaven for our suffering on earth. (Romans 8:18)
• Our all-powerful God who loves us, not just corporately but personally, will never leave us or forsake us.(Hebrews 13:5)
• In the end, all will be well.(Revelation 21:4)

As we match Scripture passages with our areas of struggle, we lay the foundation for deep and rewarding change in our lives.

 It is essential that we reinforce the truth

As we said in an earlier blog, we cannot just hear something once and think that we will experience deep and substantive change automatically. If something is important, we must repeat it until it changes us.

So, as we read and reread the healing verses, as we work toward eventually memorizing them, as we progress to being able to meditate on those verses (because we now have them memorized), the repetition will drive the truth into our subconscious, where we experience deep life transformation.

Conclusion

The great news is that we can change our beliefs, and with changed beliefs, we can experience changed behavior.

2 Peter 3:18 says, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”  Romans 8:29 says that we can be “conformed to the image of his Son.”

We don’t have to stay where we are. We can change. We can guide and accelerate our spiritual growth. We can become more and more like Christ, experience peace, love, and joy that the Holy Spirit gives us as we do.

With all we’ve looked at thus far in our “Renew Your Mind, Transform Your Life” series, we are now prepared to delve into the final section: “Understanding How to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life”.

Fasten your seatbelts as we begin to unpack the final body of truth that will open the door to a future of guided and accelerated spiritual growth. See you next week.

In case you’re new here

This blog post is part of a series titled “Renew Your Mind, Transform Your Life”, introduced on January 5, 2021. As the series continues, each succeeding post will be added to and available in the blog archives at www.maxanders.com.

If you know anyone who you think might enjoy joining us in this study, please forward this blog to them and encourage them to sign up for my mailing list here. In addition to receiving my weekly blogs on this subject, they’ll also receive my free video Master The Bible so Well That The Bible Masters You.

I look forward to going through this life-changing journey with you.

UPDATE: We are moving from this blog to a YouTube channel in early 2024. I’ll keep you posted regarding the transition. If you’re not already on my email list, subscribe here so you don’t miss any updates – you’ll also receive my free video, Master the Bible So Well That the Bible Masters You.

In the meantime, while I’m getting the YouTube channel ready, all of the past blog posts are still available – and you know that “repetition is the key to mental ownership!” 

We recently finished a series titled “Moving from Checkers to Chess ~ 5 Steps to Unleashing the Power of an Eternal Perspective,”  in which I “connected all the dots” from posts over the years and combined them into a “spiritual game plan.” That series is a great place to start.

I look forward to seeing all of you on my new YouTube channel in 2024 to further discuss how to walk closer with God and live better in life.

Two resources I’ve created to help build your biblical base for a closer walk with God:

Help spread the message, “Like” my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/maxanders.author and invite your friends to do the same. Write me at max@maxanders.com. I try to answer all emails, but, if not, I may address in future blogs the questions/issues you raise.

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