God has been showing me just how much I depend on the approval of others to establish my value. This is clearly out of God’s plan. This has been something we have been working on for a while, but I realized recently that it has a HUGE impact on me–more than I realized.
So this morning, I had to laugh. I was pouring out my heart to God in my journal and realized I had written the following:
“I have been so caught up in my performance. I clearly need to get my act together about that.”
HA! Even my solution is about performance!
I am so thankful that God is patient with me.
Now the Lord is the Spirit,
and where the Spirit of the Lord is,
there is freedom.
And we, who with unveiled faces
all reflect the Lord’s glory,
are being transformed into his likeness
with ever-increasing glory,
which comes from the Lord,
who is the Spirit.
– 2 Corinthians 3:17-18
and where the Spirit of the Lord is,
there is freedom.
And we, who with unveiled faces
all reflect the Lord’s glory,
are being transformed into his likeness
with ever-increasing glory,
which comes from the Lord,
who is the Spirit.
– 2 Corinthians 3:17-18
Cognitive behavioral therapy works because our beliefs determine our actions and even our emotions. God works on the inside to challenge our beliefs, which then changes our behavior or performance. If we just focus on changing our behaviors, our beliefs will make us resist or even rebel against any habit change. I’ve observed in my own life how God works from the inside out. When I wanted to teach myself to stop eating when I felt satisfied, rather than full, I had to eat without distractions long enough to hear my ‘self-talk’ which resisted stopping. That self-talk revealed my real beliefs about stopping at enough. After I challenged and replaced the beliefs behind my self-talk, I more often stopped at ‘satisfied’.Everything Jesus taught challenged the beliefs of people around him. The Jews wanted a Messiah who would change the world they lived in. Jesus came to change those people from within by challenging their cherished beliefs about forgiveness, punishment, their neighbors and even what they ate. His teachings freed them from counterproductive ‘rules’ for every situation and taught them to listen to God’s guidance from within.