We Must Choose Who We Want to Become

September 14, 2021

Blog Series:

Renew Your Mind ~ Transform Your Life

We saw last week that by "rewiring" our brain through repetition, we can change; we can be transformed and become who we want to be. Have you ever examined your attitudes and values to determine if there are areas where you might need to change and grow into a person with a more biblical perspective? Where did you get your values? When I was in college, Francis Schaeffer, a noted American theologian and philosopher of the time, wrote that "people get their values the same way they get the measles--by being around others who have them." As a result, many people end up with values, which, upon further reflection, they might have chosen to avoid. This hit me with thunderous impact because it was the first time that I remember seeing my life objectively. For the first time, I was able to step outside myself and look at my life, almost as a third party. For the first time, I saw that I had values that upon further reflection I would choose to avoid. I realized I had been merely floating like a cork down the stream of life. I had caught my values the same way I caught the measles. And I decided then and there, I would change and would choose my values rather than letting my values choose me. Question: are the values you have the ones, which, upon reflection, you would really like to have? Or would you like to have different, better values? Would you like to be better, more than you are? Boy I would! Who wouldn't?!? That's the whole point of much of our life. Then the thought occurred to me, “what would I be like if I had been born into a different environment?"

What if, instead of being born into a family of modest means and education in a rural part of Indiana, I had been born into an affluent, highly educated family in Boston?
Or into a blue-blooded family with a military background in Charleston, SC?
Or a politically powerful family in Southern California?”

Would I be different than I am now? Absolutely. I would have been in an environment that would have created significantly different attitudes, values, and behavior than the ones I grew up with. They might not necessarily be better, but they would be different. You can choose your values Then, I was struck with blinding the idea. I could become who I wanted to be. I couldn’t undo history. I couldn’t erase my heritage - and in many ways, I wouldn't want to. But I didn't have to be a slave to the past if there were areas in which I would prefer not to be limited by my past. I could choose to become the person I wanted to be. Specifically, I could begin to work on my limitations and capitalize on my strengths. I decided that I was no longer going to be a cork floating down the stream of life, that I was going to choose who I was going to become. It has been many years since, and that decision has made all the difference. Part of not floating downstream any more meant carefully governing what I allowed into my mind. I understood I would have to put the right things into my mind and keep the wrong things out. About that same time, there was a rather sudden and precipitous decline in the quality of things coming from electronic media. Television, movies and music rather suddenly abandoned the circumspect values that governed them, opting instead for a moral and cultural free-for-all. There was a tendency for people to get wild-eyed and shout, “Smash the televisions, burn the DVDs, blow up the computers!” And while that option might not be all bad, it is not realistic.

First, many people would not be able to keep their jobs or function with effectiveness if they eliminated electronic media from their lives.
Second, you can’t get away from the influence of electronic media even you were to take those drastic measures.
Third, most people do not have the will power to do so.
Finally, there is a world of good available through electronic media that would be lost. (I could not possibly have the ministry I have today without electronic media.)

The better alternative is to learn to control media rather than letting media control you. Use media as a tool. Be its master, not its slave. Let it work for you and not against you. We must decide what we want out of life, and if we are willing to pay the price We have to decide what we want out of life… and then decide if we're willing to pay the price. Those two questions have to go together because if we only ask what we want out of life, it’s just daydreaming unless we are willing to pay the price. But if we are also willing to pay the price, then a world of possibilities opens up to us. Listen to what some wise men of history have said about a willingness to "pay the price":

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” - Calvin Coolidge

“The secret of success is constancy to purpose.” - Benjamin Disraeli

“I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.” - Frank Lloyd Wright

“Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal: my strength lies solely in my tenacity.” - Louis Pasteur

Angela Duckworth wrote a book titled Grit, in which, after studying success and successful people, she determined that grit was the one characteristic that was common to all successful people. She defined grit as perseverance and passion for long-term goals. These individuals all understood the centrality of being willing to pay the price. The Bible talks a great deal about commitment and dedication (paying the price):

I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:27).
"I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the son God who love me and gave Himself up for me" (Galatians 2:20-21).
"I urge you, therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship" (Romans 12:1).

This tells us that half-hearted measures yield half-hearted results. Only whole-hearted measures will yield whole-hearted results. So, when we choose what we want to become, and make a life-commitment to it, there is great power released in our lives. Within reason, we can have what we want. But we must choose it. We must decide what we want and be willing to pay the price. Conclusion CS Lewis speaks eloquently to the challenge before us:

“Christ says, ‘Give me all. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work; I want you. I have not come to determine your natural self, but to kill it. No half measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here in the branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked – the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you myself.’”

As we progress into the 21^st century, we move deeper and deeper into hostile territory. There will be less and less ground for casual Christianity. The call for extreme ownership of our faith will be more and more necessary. The need to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind will become more and more apparent. The wonderful thing about the grace of God is that we do not have to be at a disadvantage in the Christian life by living in spiritually hostile times. In fact we can be spiritually stronger today than if we were living in friendlier times, because just as greater physical effort results in greater physical strength, so greater spiritual effort can result in greater spiritual strength – if we hand over the whole natural self, let the Lord take it, and replace it with His own will. As we embrace the call to commitment, it will open a world of possibilities which we will continue to explore next week. I look forward to seeing you then. 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 go to my web site (www.maxanders.com) and sign up for the free video, “Master the Bible So Well That the Bible Masters You”, available there on the home page. This will put them on my regular mailing list and they’ll receive my weekly blogs on this subject. In addition, I am creating a new online membership site, The Change Zone, that will provide information, strategies and resources to help motivated Christians renew their mind and transform their lives. If you would like to learn more about this and get updates to know when The Change Zone will be available, click here. I look forward to going through this life-changing journey with you.

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