03/11/2024
Yāall!!!! My devo this too spot on and honestly Iāve heard this so many times before ā¦ but today hit differentā¦. So Iām sharing āļø
Are you in a season of change and hardship ?
Great, Read on friends š»āļø if not - make it a blessed day and keep scrolling šš¤š¼
š»
Behavior modification doesnāt work, because the focus is only on modifying behavior. You donāt 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.
Letās say you hate an ugly tree in your yard. You want that tree gone. Finally, you decide the time has come to take care of the problem. So you march into your yard with a small handsaw. You pick an ugly branch and cut it off the tree. You smile and walk back into the house, triumphantly singing a medley of āAll I Do Is Winā and āAnother One Bites the Dust.ā The next day you are shocked to see that the tree is still standing strong. As you stare out the window, you could almost swear itās smirking at you.
I know. The analogy is absurd. You would never try to kill a tree by just removing a branch. Because the branch obviously isnāt the problem. The tree is the problem. Actually, the root system of the tree is the main culprit. If you donāt remove the root system when you cut down the tree, it could still grow back.
Well, if we decide, Iām going to stop yelling at my kids or Iām going to stop isolating myself and living a lonely life or Iām going to exercise every day, weāre just sawing off a branch. We are ignoring the real problem of the lie we believe and the mental rut we fall into. Attacking only symptoms, not the source.
Thinking I can change a behavior just by removing the behavior is absurd. The behavior isnāt 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
š¤remove the lie at the root of the behavior,
and
š¤replace the neural pathway that leads me to the behavior.
Where will we get these new thoughts? Hint: we wonāt get them from scrolling through social media posts, listening to our favorite playlist, or phoning a friend for their opinion.
To stop the lies and replace them with truth, we need to look to Godās Word.
Thatās what Jesus did. When Satan tempted Him, Jesus couldnāt whip out His iPhone and open up the YouVersion Bible app to search for a verse that might help. He had already internalized truths from Godās Word that created a helpful neural pathway. When tempted, Jesus followed that path, leading Him to obedience and freedom.
Thatās what we need to do. š»šš¼
