How God Renews Our Desires

We have learned in the last two postings that when God renews us, he begins with our thought life. Our thoughts determine how we feel, and our emotions determine how we act. If we want to change how we act and how we feel, we must allow God to change our thoughts.

A Sunday School teacher was discussing dreams with the children in her class. She said, "I used to have bad dreams. For example, the other night I dreamed that I blew up Preacher Henry's house." One little girl's hand went up, so the teacher called on her, "Do you want to say something?" The little girl said, "My mother told me if you don't have bad thoughts, you won't have bad dreams."

We have learned that if we don't have bad thoughts, we won't have bad emotions. If we don't have bad thoughts and bad emotions, we won't act in bad ways. But our desires also play a role in our actions. We all struggle with inappropriate desires. We all struggle to behave in godly ways. We find ourselves addicted to a thought, feeling, or behavior that we don't like and would like to quit, but we can't seem to find the power to overcome it. Our will, that part of us that makes choices and decisions, must choose between competing desires. Some are wrong, harmful, and sinful, and others are right, healthy, and holy.

How can we tip the balance of the scales in favor of choosing what is right and good and holy?

I. Our Struggle with Desires (James 1:13-16)

Sinful desires dominate us because we seek to control our lives. We place our selves at the center of our lives and expect others to put us at the center of their lives. We think that to be happy and successful we must be in control of everything and everyone. In this grand production of our life, we strive to be the producer, director, screenwriter, lead actor, set designer, costumer, makeup artist, and even the grip (whatever a "grip" is). It's exhausting to be the lord of our universe, but we try nevertheless.

When we feel that our desires are out of our control and are causing us damage, we may try to exert authority over them. We try harder. We call up more willpower. We put forth greater effort. And the result is that we sink deeper and deeper into sin. The more we try to control ourselves, the less control we seem to have.

Because we have failed so miserably at controlling others, controlling our selves, and controlling our desires, we turn to substances that we think we can control. They are concrete things that bring us temporary relief and satisfaction. So we medicate our misery and numb our exhaustion with food, alcohol, drugs, tobacco, sex, video games, and other forms of mindless entertainment. Those pleasures temporarily distract us from realizing how utterly we have failed at controlling anything, so we become addicted to them, unable to resist the momentary release of endorphins that they provide. Ultimately, our attempts to control have gotten us into a big mess.

James 1:13 observes that we might tempted to blame God for our addiction to desires, but "God cannot be tempted and he himself tempts no one." No, we have only our own miserable selves to blame: "But one is tempted by one's own desire, being lured and enticed by it; then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death. Do not be deceived, my beloved" (James 1:14-16, all quotations from NRSV). James is describing the opposite of Christomorphosis. This process leads us farther and farther away from the goal of becoming like Christ.

II. Our Surrender of Desires (Acts 2:37-38)

When John the Baptist appeared, the nation of Israel had failed miserably at controlling its own fate. They had followed their own desires, which led them into idolatry and the eventual loss of their land. Because of that experience of exile, they emphasized faithfulness to the law so that they would not repeat their mistakes, but the result was that they became ensalved to something that they could not perfectly obey. Their attempts to control their own destiny led to their subjugation by Rome.

John the Baptist offered the Jews one remedy for their addiction to their desires—a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Luke 3:3). He confronted them with their need to control and called them to surrender to God. He called upon them to prepare their hearts so that they would receive the Messiah who was bringing God's kingdom to earth. He reminded them that there is only God. We too need to be reminded that God is not our self, our spouse, our children, our job, our education, pleasurable substances, money, possessions, or reputation.

He called the Jews to turn away from their desires and turn to God. They were to perform a decisive act of the will by which they would choose to stop living according to their own desires and start seeking God's will in all things. He encouraged them to express this decision to reorient their life by being immersed in water, which symbolized cleansing of sin. This baptism of repentance would remind them of the two most important facts that every person must eventually grasp: There is a God, and I am not he.

Jesus himself submitted to John's baptism in order to express his own commitment to God. After his baptism, he grappled with his desires as Satan tempted him in the wilderness. As he embarked on his public ministry, he announced that the kingdom of God had come near and that all people must repent and believe in the good news (Mark 1:15). Like John, Jesus challenged people to surrender to God and turn away from their evil desires. After his death and resurrection, he instructed his disciples to continue to preach the message of repentance and baptism (Matt 28:18-20).

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, and Peter preached a sermon to the gathered crowd. The listeners were convicted by the message and asked what they should do to be saved (Acts 2:37). Peter presented them with the same challenge offered by John the Baptist and Jesus: "Repent and be baptized" (Acts 2:38). Unlike John's baptism, however, this baptism was performed "in the name of Jesus Christ." It placed one under the ownership of Christ. By expressing their repentance in baptism, they would become Christ's possession.

Peter promised that two blessings would result from repentance-baptism. First, their sins would be forgiven. Forgiveness would provide the remedy for the guilt of sin. Second, they would receive the Holy Spirit, which would be the remedy for the power of sin. When they surrendered to God in baptism, they would receive divine power within that would help them overcome sin. By giving up control to Jesus Christ, they would receive self-control through the Holy Spirit.

III. The Death of Our Desires (Romans 6:1-10)

Those promises that Peter made on the day of Pentecost are still available to us today. In Romans 6, Paul describes more fully the great transformation that takes place in our baptism. Baptism initiates the process of renewal and frees us from the grip of our evil desires.

A. We are united with Christ (Romans 6:1-3).

Before Romans 6, Paul had just explained that we are saved by grace: Salvation is a free gift we do not earn. We are saved not by our own efforts but by surrendering ourselves to the free gift of salvation in Christ.

In 6:1, he anticipates that some might conclude that it does not matter whether or not they sin since salvation is a free gift: "What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?" Their attitude was like that of the young boy who explained to his sister: "You see, it was Jesus' job to die for our sins; it's our job to sin."

In 6:2-3, Paul answers that they cannot sin because, when they were baptized, they were changed in a way that keeps them from sinning: "By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?" Grace does not give license to sin but gives us the ability to obey.

When they were immersed in water as a public expression of surrender to Christ's lordship, they underwent a spiritual transformation. When they were plunged into water, they were plunged into Christ. They became one with Christ; they were spiritually identified with Christ. Baptism is the beginning of Christomorphosis. Galatians 3:27 expresses the idea like this: "As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." In baptism, Christ wraps himself around us so that we are united with him. The New Testament frequently uses two interchangeable phrases to describe our union with Christ: Christ in me (Gal 2:20; Eph 3:17) and I in Christ. Our union with Christ has produced the following two changes in our inner persons.

B. We have died to sin (Romans 6:4-7).

In baptism, we are united with Christ in his death so that our self has died: "Therefore we have been buried with him in baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin." Baptism reenacts Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection in the life of the believer (Fitzmyer, 1993). In baptism, we die with Christ on the cross. In baptism, Jesus' death on the cross is applied to the believer. Ernst Käsemann said that in baptism Christ "has caught up Christians up into his death" (1980, p. 165).

According to Ephesians 2:1-3, the old self was enslaved to sin and had little freedom to choose its actions. Sin was an addiction, a habit ingrained through years of repetition and practice. Sin is used in the singular here as if it is an entity or a power that has enslaved us.

Slaves to sin are like the cartoon character Dagwood. On one occasion, Blondie and Dagwood were dining out when the waiter brought desserts over for them to choose. Dagwood looked at each one and said, "No thanks." Blondie, with a knowing smile, said: "Dagwood knows how to handle temptation." Then the waiter held up one more dessert and Dagwood, with a huge grin, said, "I'll take the Napoleon!" Blondie added, "He yields to it." Slaves to sin cannot resist sin's temptation.

Slaves to sin can relate to Tommy Lasorda, the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who was struggling to stay on a diet. He told a reporter, "I am a strong man, but linguine is stronger." The power of sin is stronger than the unredeemed person's ability to resist. No matter how strong we try to be, no matter how hard we try, no matter how much we try to control ourselves, sin is always stronger. Sin is like quicksand: The more we struggle to free ourselves from it, the deeper we are sucked in.

But when we are united with Christ in baptism, we are released from sin's power over us. The old self that was dominated by sin dies in baptism so that sin no longer reigns over us. The person that was dominated by sin ("the body of sin") is disabled, defeated, rendered powerless. Martin Luther graphically described our death to sin: "Your baptism is nothing less than grace clutching you by the throat: a grace-full throttling, by which your sin is submerged in order that ye may remain under grace. Come thus to thy baptism. Give thyself up to be drowned in baptism and killed by the mercy of thy dear God, saying: 'Drown me and throttle me, dear Lord, for henceforth I will gladly die to sin with they Son.'"

A story about the great theologian Augustine illustrates this change. He had led a very immoral life before his conversion. One day after he had become a Christian, he was walking down the street of Milan when a prostitute whose services he had used in her former life called out to him. He kept on walking and would not answer. She called out, "Augustine, it is I!" And he responded, "Yes, but it is no longer I."

C. We are alive to God (Romans 6:8-10).

Our union with Christ in baptism also results in a new life, a life centered on God's will for us. What happened to Christ also happens to us. His resurrection guarantees our new life. When we repent and are baptized, the Holy Spirit dwells within us (Acts 2:38). The Holy Spirit makes us alive spiritually so that we have intimate fellowship with God. The Holy Spirit unites us with Christ and gives us new life.

Colossians 1:13-14 describes the transformation that occurs when we are saved: "He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." The inner transformation we experience when we are baptized into Christ causes Paul to declare: "If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (2 Cor 5:17). Baptism initiates the process of Christomorphosis so that we begin anew.

Sometimes restaurants signal that they are changing their bad reputation by posting a sign that says, "Under New Management." Baptism is our way of declaring to others that we are under new management and that the new management is cleaning house and refurbishing our inner self.

Around A.D. 400, John Chrysostom stated this profoundly: "For when we immerse our heads in the water, the old man is buried as in a tomb below, and wholly sunk forever; then as we raise them again, the new man rises in its stead. As it is easy for us to dip and to lift our heads again, so it is easy for God to bury the old man, and to show forth the new."

IV. The Transformation of Our Desires (Romans 6:11-14)

A key to understanding Paul is to distinguish the indicative and the imperative. The indicative refers to Paul's description of who we are in Christ. The indicative describes our identity as Christians. Once Paul describes the indicative, he then proceeds to explain how we should act because of who we are. This is called the imperative because it takes the form of commands and admonitions.

In Paul, the imperative is based on the indicative. God has changed our inward being, and that inner change should be reflected in our outer conduct. We need to "become who we are": Our inner transformation needs to become an outward reality. Christomorphosis is not an internal, invisibile process; it should be visible to others.

In Romans 6, Paul has said that when we believed and were baptized, we were united with Christ so that we died to sin and were raised to a new life. In baptism, we were Christomorphized. This is the indicative. He then gives the imperative: Because of this change, Christians cannot sin. We must "walk in newness of life" (6:4). Sin is not congruent with the transformed nature of a Christian. We might say that our lives and our conduct must be Christomorphic, conformed to the image of Christ in which we have been re-created.

Two men who attended the same church met on the street. One said to the other, "Have you heard about Harry? He embezzled the company out of half a million dollars." The other man said, "That's terrible; I never did trust Harry." The first man said, "Not only that, he left town and he took Tom's wife with him." The other man said, "That's awful; Harry has always been a ne'er-do-well." The first man said, "Not only that, he stole a car to make his getaway." The other man said, "That's scandalous; I always did think Harry had a bad streak in him." The first man said, "Not only that, they think he was drunk when he pulled out of town." The other man said, "Harry's no good. But what really bothers me is, who's going to teach his Sunday School Class this week?" This story is humorous because we see how incongruent that behavior is with the man's identity. When Christians sin, they are acting against their own nature.

Let's examine the imperatives Paul gives us. How do we make our inward identity an outward reality? How can our conduct become Christomorphic?

A. Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God (Romans 6:11).

Since we have died to sin, we should behave as if we have died to sin. We must make that inward fact an outward reality. This outward change begins by understanding and accepting the inner change that has occurred. "Consider" means to realize and remember. We must make a conscious, ongoing effort to remember that God has made it possible for us to resist sin and live righteously. Sin is not a literal impossibility, but it is a moral contradiction (Stott, 1994).

When I learned to ride a bike, no one told me how to stop. The only way I knew how to stop was by running into something that would stop me. Consequently, I was constantly climbing out of bushes, scraping myself off the side of the house, and climbing down from the hoods of cars. I could have been spared a lot of trouble if I had known the bike had a brake. Similarly, we can save ourselves a lot of trouble if we remember that God has made it possible for us to put the brakes on our desires.

A little boy wanted a pair of skates, so his parents made him save the amount from his allowance. One day his mother overheard him in his bedroom shaking his bank and counting his money. Then she heard the bell of the ice cream truck ringing loudly in the street outside. She knew the boy wanted his skates, but he loved ice cream also, so she waited to see what would happen. It was very quiet in the bedroom until the vehicle was gone, and the bell could no longer be heard. Then she heard her son pray quietly: "Dear Jesus, please don't let the ice cream truck come down my street anymore."

Even though our old self has died, sin is still present, enticing us to depart from God's will. But we can resist sin's allure if we remember that it has no power over us. Robert Mounce said: "For the Christian to choose to sin is the spiritual equivalent of digging up a corpse for fellowship" (2001, p. 163). We must remind ourselves that we are free to choose to live according to God's will for us. Sin is a force that still tempts us, but it is no longer a power that controls us. We can overcome sin by relying on Christ's power to defeat it.

B. Do not place yourselves under sin's power (Romans 6:12-13a).

According to 6:12-13a, we can choose to refuse sin's power over us: "Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness...." This passage suggests that a believer can succumb to sin's domination, but we can also choose to be free from it. Sin no longer makes us an offer we can't refuse (Witherington, 2004). Lars Hartman said that "baptism meant a liberation not from sinning, but from sin's reign, from living according to the conditions of its power" (cited in Esler, 2003, p. 217).

A saloon keeper sold his old tavern to a local church. The church members tore out the bar, added some lights, slapped on a coat of paint, and installed some pews. However, they kept the parrot that belonged to the saloon keeper. On Sunday morning the colorful bird was watching the proceedings. When the minister appeared, he squawked, "New proprietor!" When the choir proceeded down the aisle, he piped, "New floor show!" Then he looked out over the congregation and screeched, "Same old crowd!" People should see a difference in the way Christians live since they have been freed from sin.

C. Offer yourselves to God (Romans 6:13b-14).

The indicative is that we have been brought from death to life; the imperative is that we present ourselves to God: "Present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace" (6:13b-14). "Present" means to place ourselves at God's disposal.

We must choose to let God rule our lives and produce righteousness in us. As we surrender to God and experience his transforming power, we will find that

• instead of anger, we will choose patience;
• instead of impatience, we will choose understanding;
• instead of anxiety, we will have confidence;
• instead of resentment, we will practice forgiveness;
• instead of covetousness, we will practice generosity;
• instead of pride, we will have humility (Petersen, 1993, p. 116).

A man always stopped by the bakery to buy some goodies for the staff coffee break, but he decided to go on a diet, so he quit the practice. One day on his way to work he thought, "Maybe I should stop by the bakery and pick up some goodies for the office." So he told the Lord he would stop only if God made a parking spot available right in front of the bakery. And, sure enough, there it was, a parking spot, right in front of the bakery—on his eighth trip around the block! Instead of placing ourselves in temptation's way as this man did, we offer ourselves to God to be used in his service.

Martin Luther summarizes these thoughts like this: "Baptism signifies that the old Adam in us is to be drowned by daily sorrow and repentance, and perish with all sins and evil lusts; and that the new man should daily come forth again and rise, who shall live before God in righteousness and purity forever."

V. Conclusion

A young man was buying a shirt in a department store. The shirt label said, "Shrink resistant." He asked the clerk what that meant. The clerk said, "The label means that the shirt will shrink, but it doesn't want to." Many people view the Christian life like that: We will sin, but we don't want to.

Paul says that we don't have to sin. God has made us sin-resistant. But we must understand the change that has occurred within us. To resist sin, we must remember our baptism. We must remember that we have died to sin and are free to live for Christ. We must continually surrender ourselves to God so that he can continue to change us from the inside out.

"Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and of spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of God" (2 Cor 7:1).

Reflection Questions

1. What harmful desire do you struggle with the most? What harm does it cause you?

2. According to Romans 6, what happens to us when we are baptized into Christ?

3. According to Romans 6:11-14, how are we to live because of the change that occurred in baptism?

4. How can we surrender ourselves to God so that we will resist sin?

Next Topic: "How God Renews Our Relationships"

Sources:

Bridges, J. (1978). The pursuit of holiness. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.

Bridges, J. (1994). The discipline of grace: God's role and our role in the pursuit of holiness. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.

Esler, P. F. (2003). Conflict and identity in Romans: The social setting of Paul's letter. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.

Fitzmyer, J. A. (1993). Romans. Anchor Bible 33. New York: Doubleday.

Käsemann, E. (1980). Commentary on Romans. Translated by G. W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans.

Mounce, R. H. (2001). Romans. New American Commentary 27. Nashville: Broadman & Holman.

Petersen, J. (1993). Lifestyle discipleship: The challenge of following Jesus in today's world. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.

Stott, J. (1994). Romans: God's good news for the world. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity.

Witherington, B., and Hyatt, D. (2004). Paul's letter to the Romans: A socio-rhetorical commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans.

How God Renews Our Emotions

This is the second installment of a five-part series called "How God Renews Us."

In the last post, we learned that God wants to renew us into the image of Christ, beginning with our thoughts. Once our thoughts are renewed, our emotions and desires also will be renewed. What we think determines how we feel, and how we feel determines how we act. In the last post, we saw how God can change how we think. Now let's consider how God changes our emotions.

Many people think that emotions are uncontrollable. They say they can't help how they feel. Such people tend to think it is unhealthy to restrain their emotions. A humorous story illustrates this thinking. A man was strolling through a men's club and came upon three men and a dog playing cards. Pausing to watch, he asked, "Can that dog really play cards?" "You bet," answered one of the members. "That's incredible!" the man said. "Not really," another member shrugged. "He's really not that good. Whenever he gets a good hand, he wags his tail."

Some people think that it is either impossible or unhealthy to restrain their emotions, but James 1:19-20 says that we can and should keep our emotions under control: "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, because our anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires" (TNIV).

Others go to the other extreme so that they suppress their emotions. Such people are uncomfortable with their emotions, so they deny them or ignore them. Many men, for example, were taught that it is a sign of weakness to show emotion. A characteristic of dysfunctional families is that they do not allow the honest expression of emotions. Such people who are afraid of their emotions are like Katherine Hepburn: A reviewer once said that her emotions ran the gamut from A to B. People who suppress their emotions live narrow, unexciting lives.

Jesus himself expressed his emotions, such as anger, joy, sadness, and weeping. Paul expressed honest emotions in his letters, such as frustration, affection, joy, and anger. Emotions in themselves are neither good nor bad. What we do with our emotions can lead to good actions or bad actions. How we let our emotions affect us can have good or bad consequences.

We should not freely express every emotion we feel nor should we deny the honest expression of emotion. Either extreme can cause psychological and spiritual damage. The ideal is to be free to feel and yet remain in control of our feelings (Hart, 1989).

Let's consider how we can transform destructive, damaging emotions into constructive, healthy emotions. We will illustrate the ABCDE Process of transforming our emotions by examining a case study from the Gospels. This process was developed by the cognitive therapist David Burns (1989), but it reflects Biblical principles. Jesus' parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 shows how distorted thoughts lead to distorted emotions that can cause a person to act in unhealthy ways.

A = Adversity

The emotional process begins when an event occurs that upsets us, frustrates a goal, or makes life difficult. In Matthew 25:14-15, the emotional stimulus for the servant was being entrusted with a great deal of money by his master. He reacted to this responsibility with certain thoughts that triggered certain emotions.

B = Beliefs

We interpret events based on our thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs. Our assumptions about life, our image of God, our concept of self all determine how we explain the things that happen to us. Distorted thoughts and beliefs will lead to distorted interpretations and distorted emotions (Backus & Chapian, 1980). Accurate thoughts and beliefs will result in appropriate interpretations, emotions, and actions. The one-talent man in Jesus' story had inaccurate beliefs that caused him to act inappropriately. He assumed incorrectly that his master was harsh, and that misbelief paralyzed him with fear, and that distorted emotion of fear resulted in sloth.

C = Consequences

Our thoughts trigger a physiological reaction, which we call a feeling. The combination of thought and feeling makes an emotion (Hart, 1989). Our emotions then affect how we act.

Events do not lead directly to emotions. There is an intervening variable between the event and the resulting emotion, namely, the meaning we attach to the event. Our interpretation of what happens to us affects how we feel about it. The meaning we attach to an event results from our values, beliefs, attitudes, expectations, assumptions, and perceptions (Hart, 1989).

In other words, our thought life determines our emotional life. What we think about what happens to us determines how we feel and how we respond. Our thoughts, not external events, control our emotions. Our emotions are responses to our interpretation of events rather than to the events themselves. I would represent this chain of events this way.

Event > Interpretation/thought > Feeling/physical reaction > Emotion > Action

Here are some examples of how emotions result from thoughts (Burns, 1989). Sadness and depression result from thoughts of loss. Frustration results from unfulfilled expectations. Anxiety and panic result from thoughts of danger. Guilt results from self-condemnation. Inferiority results from thoughts of inadequacy. Anger results from thoughts of unfairness.

Philosophers have known for centuries that our thoughts control our emotions. In the second century, the philosopher Marcus Aurelius said, "If you are pained by an external thing, it is not this thing that disturbs you but your judgment about it" (Hart, 1989, p. 28).

Let's look at how each man in this story reacted to the same event. One man was given five talents, which he used to make five more talents. The man who was given two talents invested his money so that he made two more talents. But the man who was given one talent dug a hole in the ground and buried the money.

What caused the third man to act differently from the other two? When he is forced to give an account to his master, he reveals what was going on in his mind: "Master, I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground" (Matt 25:24-25). His belief was that the master was harsh and unreasonable. Because of his misbelief about the master, the servant felt fear. His fear caused him to act cautiously and defensively so that he missed a great opportunity for more blessings.

Notice that the event itself did not cause his emotions. The other two men experienced the same event, but they interpreted it in a positive way as an opportunity to display their ingenuity and trustworthiness. These men acted differently because they felt differently, and they felt differently because they thought differently. It was the third man's thoughts that caused him to feel fear, not the adversity he faced.

D1 = Distraction

If we are experiencing harmful emotions because of distorted thinking, we can change them in one of two ways: distraction or disputation. Distraction interrupts the thought cycle that produces harmful emotions.

Our emotions can trigger more negative thoughts that produce more negative emotions. Archibald Hart (1989) calls this "emotional chaining," which escalates the severity of our emotional state. We must interrupt the process so that we can return to a state of calm and equilibrium. One way to do this is to divert our attention from the negative thoughts causing the negative emotions.

God has designed our minds so that they can focus on only one thing at a time. This is called the principle of selective attention or the cocktail party effect (Moray, 1987). For example, if you are in a room full of people, you cannot listen to more that one conversation simultaneously no matter how hard you try. Your brain can focus on only one stimulus at a time.

This principle explains how we can keep our minds from dwelling on negative thoughts. If we divert our attention to something else, we will stop thinking the negative thought. And when we stop thinking negative thoughts, we will stop feeling negative emotions.

D2 = Disputation

We can also change our emotions by intervening between the environmental input (what happens to us) and the emotional output (how we respond). Most negative emotions result from distorted thoughts. Our thoughts determine whether we will be happy or miserable, successful or a failure, composed or angry, relaxed or tense. We can attack our distorted beliefs and argue against them so that we will feel better.

Cognitive therapists have identified ten categories of distorted thinking: all-or-nothing thinking, overgeneralization, mental filter, discounting the positives, jumping to conclusions (mind reading and fortune telling), magnification or minimization, emotional reasoning, should statements, labeling, and personalization and blame (Burns, 1989, p. 96). If we identify these distortions, then we can replace them with more accurate perceptions of reality.

The misbelief of the fearful servant was that he thought his master was harsh. This distorted thought falls into the category of "overgeneralization." He should have replaced this distortion with a more accurate interpretation. Indeed, his master was harsh with those who deserve it. There is usually a smidgen of truth on which an overgeneralization is based. But the complete truth that he ignored was that, if he was faithful and put forth his best effort, his master would reward him. The other two men certainly did not think the master was harsh, and the master proved to be generous to them. The unfaithful servant focused only on the negative aspects of his master and discounted the positives, another category of distorted thinking. He thought he could read the mind of the master and that he could predict that things would turn out badly. His thinking was riddled with distortions, which caused him to feel fear.

E = Energization

If we replace our distorted thoughts with truthful, healthy interpretations of events, our emotions will change. Jesus describes the healthy response to events in John 13:17: "Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them" (TNIV). Notice the sequence here. Jesus says that first we must know the truth. We must have healthy beliefs. We must think straight about reality. Then we must act appropriately based on those beliefs. Then, if we have right beliefs and right actions, our emotions will be blessed (Anderson, 1990). If we know the truth, we need to act on that knowledge no matter how we feel. Correct knowledge and correct actions will result in good emotions.

There are many things God wants us to do that we do not always feel like doing, but when we do them anyway, our feelings improve as a result. For example, I have heard people say that they did not feel like going to church on Sunday morning, but they went anyway, and they were glad they did. They knew the right thing to do and they did it, so their emotions felt better.

Test Case: Psalm 73

Psalm 73 provides another clear example of the ABCDE Process. The psalmist begins by ruminating on negative thoughts in verses 1 to 14. His thoughts center on envy of his enemies. He exaggerates the well-being of his enemies, magnifies his own troubles, and discounts his own blessings. Because of his negative thoughts, he feels negative emotions.

His thoughts reflect many of the classic distortion patterns. He reflects all-or-nothing thinking: "they have no pain" (v. 4, all quotes from NRSV). He overgeneralizes: "They are not in trouble as others are; they are not plagued like other people" (v. 5). He dwells on the negatives and discounts the positives: "All in vain I have kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued, and am punished every morning" (vss. 13-14). He thinks he can read the minds of his enemies: "And they say, 'How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?'" (v. 11).

Because of his distorted thoughts, he experienced many harmful emotions, including envy, hatred, anger, resentment, frustration, and discouragement.

But then the psalmist interrupts his emotional chaining in verse 15: "If I had said, 'I will talk on in this way,' I would have been untrue to the circle of your children." He pauses to consider the consequences of his beliefs. If he continued with his negative self-talk, he would have been a negative influence on the younger ones. His distorted beliefs were ruining his life and affecting the lives of others.

So how did he correct his negative thoughts? First, he distracted himself: "But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end" (vss. 16-17). He put himself in a positive atmosphere where God could influence him. He tried to step back and examine his thoughts objectively to see how distorted they were.

Then he disputed his distorted beliefs. He realized that God would judge people according to their actions, so he could leave vengeance in God's hands (vss. 18-20). He reminded himself of the self-inflicted damage caused by his thoughts and emotions: "When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was stupid and ignorant; I was like a brute beast toward you" (vss. 21-22).

When we are obsessed with certain harmful thoughts or actions, it helps to perform a cost-benefit analysis to see the damage they cause. If the costs of those thoughts and actions outweigh the benefits, then the wise course of action is to stop them. The psalmist could see that his thoughts and emotions hurt him more than helped him, so he actively worked at changing them.

He displaced his negative thoughts with positive thoughts: "Nevertheless I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me with honor" (vss. 23-24). He restored his trust in God's care and protection.

These renewed, accurate beliefs led him to write some of the most moving words of praise in Scripture: "Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth I desire other than you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (vss. 25-26). When the writer began the psalm, these are the last words we would expect to hear from him, but because he corrected his negative thinking, he was able to praise and thank and bless God in the end.

Conclusion

Dr. Alfred Adler used to tell the story about a group of people who were crowded together, trying to sleep on the floor of a great auditorium during the war. One woman kept everyone awake with her pitiful cries, "Oh God, I'm so thirsty!" Finally, someone got up in the dark and brought her a glass of water. They could hear the woman gurgle the water down, and just when everyone thought they could finally get some sleep, the woman exclaimed, "Oh, God, how thirsty I was!" The woman could not stop dwelling on the negatives.

We can choose to focus on the negatives of life and interpret everything that happens to us in a negative way. Or we can respond to events with accurate perceptions and trust in God. How we think about what happens to us will determine how we feel.

Discussion Questions

1. What harmful emotion do you find difficult to control? In what ways does it harm you and others?

2. Why do people want to view emotions as uncontrollable?

3. How can you distract yourself from negative thoughts?

4. Which of the ten distorted thinking patterns do you have the most problems with? How can you correct it?

5. How much can you relate to the negative thoughts of Psalm 73:1-14? How can you avoid those negative thoughts?

Next Topic: "How God Renews Our Desires"

Sources:

Anderson, N. T. (1990). Victory over darkness: Realizing the power of your identity in Christ. Ventura, CA: Regal Books.

Backus, W., and Chapian, M. (1980). Telling yourself the truth. Minneapolis: Bethany House.

Burns, D. (1989). The feeling good handbook: Using the new mood therapy in everyday life. New York: W. Morrow.

Hart, A. D. (1989). Unlocking the mystery of your emotions. Dallas: Word.

Moray, N. (1987). Attention. In The Oxford companion to the mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

How God Renews Our Thoughts

This is the first installment of a five-part series on "How God Renews Us."

Many thinkers have attested to the power of the mind over a person's life. Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "A man is what he thinks about all day long." Marcus Aurelius said: "A man's life is what his thoughts are made of." William James wrote: "The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind." James Thurber stated more cynically the power of our thoughts: "Sixty minutes of thinking of any kind is bound to lead to confusion and unhappiness."

The structure of the brain reveals how powerful it is. The brain has 12 to 14 billion cells (Hughes, 1991). Each cell sends out thousands of connecting tendrils so that a single cell may be connected with 10,000 neighboring cells. This is why the brain has been compared to 1,000 switchboards, each big enough to serve New York City, all running at full speed. It has been estimated that there is more electronic equivalent in the brain than in all the radio and TV stations of the entire world.

What we think determines how we feel and what we do. If we want to change how we feel, we need to change how we think. If we want to change how we act, we need to change how we think. If we can learn to replace our negative, sinful, distorted thoughts with positive, holy, truthful thoughts, our lives would improve dramatically.

I. The Problem: Distorted Minds

Second Corinthians 4:3-4 describes the mind as the arena in which spiritual forces of good and evil struggle for control of our lives: "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (TNIV). By choosing to live independently of God, we have placed ourselves under the control of evil.

To ensure that people remain in bondage to evil, the Evil One distorts their thinking so that they cannot see the truth. Consequently, unbelievers are deceived about themselves and about God. They think they are their own gods. They think that God has no meaning for them.

In an Archie cartoon, Jughead told Archie that he was afraid he would fail at something he wanted to do. Archie told him: "Tell yourself you can do it. Speak positive messages of success to yourself." Jughead answered: "That won't work. I know what a liar I am!" According to Paul, we have all lied to ourselves. Until we accept the truth of the gospel, we are blinded to the truth about ourselves.

Second Corinthians 10:3-5 also says that we are engaged in a battle for our minds: "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (TNIV).

According to Paul, evil forces set up strongholds in our minds (Anderson, 1993). These strongholds are negative patterns of thought that are burned into our minds through repetition over time. Once a stronghold is entrenched in our minds, our ability to choose and to act contrary to that pattern is greatly diminished.

In Paul's terminology, we are slaves to sin. We are addicted to sin, and we have little control over our actions. Demonic forces take advantage of these points of weakness and exploit them for their own destructive purposes. We know we are victims of a stronghold when we cannot help what we think and do.

II. The Remedy: The Truth

Second Corinthians 4:5-6 says that distorted, darkened minds are healed by the truth of the gospel: "For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory in the face of Christ" (TNIV). Only the truth that Jesus died to set us free from sin has the power to break through the fog of our distorted minds and clear up our thinking. When we accept the gospel, we think clearly about ourselves, about God, and about Jesus.

Satan confuses our thoughts with lies (Jn 8:44), but his control over our minds is broken by accepting the truth (Jn 8:32). We accept the truth by confession. First John deals with the problem that some Christians believed the lie that they were without sin. This lie caused them all kinds of problems. John said the remedy was to see the truth about themselves: "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 Jn 1:8-9, TNIV).

In confession, we see ourselves as God sees us. We agree with God's view of us. We are honest with ourselves and with God about our thoughts, our motives, and our actions. We accept the truth also by repentance, which literally means "change of mind" in Greek (metanoia). Through confession and repentance, we come to think the way God thinks. We focus our minds on God's will instead of on our will.

Once we begin to think the way God thinks, we come to have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16). We think Christ's thoughts after him. We see the truth about ourselves, about others, and about God.

III. The Process: Renewal

1. Submit to God.

Romans 12:1-2 says: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your proper worship as rational beings. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will" (TNIV). God does not force change on us. We must yield ourselves to him so that he can change us. If we submit to him and seek his will, he will renew our minds so that we will know his will.

2. Resist negative influences.

Romans 12:2 warns us not to be conformed to the world. We need to be selective about the input into our minds because those influences program our minds to think the way they think. We need to be selective about books, music, friends, co-workers, movies, etc.

Television especially is a major influence on our minds (Hughes, 1991). According to studies, the average viewer watches 4-1/2 hours a day, 1500 hours a year. The average child will spend 15,000-16,000 hours in front of the TV but only 13,000 hours in school. By age 20, people see 1 million commercials, including 100,000 beer commercials. And we wonder why 25,000 people are killed each year in drunk-driving incidents!

The danger of TV is that it reflects the values, opinions, and morals of those who produce it (Hughes, 1991). According to one survey of 104 TV executives, only 7% of them attend church (vs. 55% of the general public); 45% have no religious affiliation (vs. 4% of the general public); only 49% believe adultery is always wrong (vs. 85% of the general public); and only 20% think homosexual acts are wrong (vs. 76% of the general public). Clearly, their values are way out of line with most Americans, and they are contradictory to Biblical values. Yet we expose our minds to their subtle and overt attempts to shape our thinking.

3. Displace negative thoughts with positive thoughts.

Philippians 4:8 instructs us to be selective about what we allow into our minds: "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things" (TNIV). Notice that everything listed here is positive. And each of these things is a matter of choice.

In Luke 11:24-26, Jesus instructs that we must replace the negative with the positive: "When an evil spirit comes out of anyone, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first" (TNIV). This is the principle of displacement: To get rid of the negative, we must focus on the positive. It is not enough to stop thinking sinful thoughts; we must replace them with godly thoughts.

A young child came to her mother complaining that her stomach hurt. "Oh, honey, your stomach is empty," the mother responded. "You just need to get something in it and you'll be fine." A week later, the pastor was speaking with her mother, and he mentioned that he had a headache. "Oh, pastor, my mommy says that your head is empty," the girl responded. "You just need to get something in it and you'll be fine." If we can get positive, holy thoughts into our heads, they will drive out the negative thoughts.

Here is an exercise to illustrate this (Lutzer, 1994). Close your eyes for 10 seconds, and visualize the number 8. Now, when you read this line, stop thinking about the number 8 for the next 10 seconds.

Could you do it? We cannot control our thoughts just by telling ourselves to stop thinking about them: This only makes us dwell on them more.

Now, think about the number 1,000 and divide it by 5.

Are you still thinking about the number 8?

The easiest way to remove air from a bottle is to fill it with water. Similarly, the easiest way to drive out negative thoughts is by filling our minds with positive thoughts.

Our thoughts are in perpetual motion; we cannot stop them. Perhaps the only time we are without any thoughts is when we watch a Three Stooges episode--which may explain why men like the Three Stooges more than women do. We cannot stop our thoughts, but we can control their content and direction.

For example, we can practice "thought-stopping." Thought-stopping works this way: On an index card, write the word "STOP!" in red letters and then write a Bible verse on the other side that addresses the negative thought you are trying to control. Whenever that negative thought enters your mind, pull the card out of your pocket, tell yourself to stop, and then read the Bible verse to replace the negative thought with a positive one.

According to the principle of selective attention, our minds can focus on only one thing at a time. For example, the next time you are in a crowded room, try to listen to more than one conversation at a time. It can't be done! Our minds can focus attention on only one stimulus at a time, or else they would get overloaded.

This principle means that harmful thought patterns can be squeezed out of our minds by focusing our attention on positive thoughts. We fill our minds with positive thoughts by reading the Bible, watching uplifting movies, listening to Christian music, and engaging in conversations with Christian friends.

4. Place your thoughts under Christ's authority.

Second Corinthians 10:3-5 says that we tear down strongholds in our minds by taking every thought captive for Christ. When the negative thought first enters our minds, we must surrender it to Christ's authority so that he can control it. oo often, however, we mull over a negative thought until we commit the act.

A "Cathy" cartoon illustrates how this works (Anderson, 1990). Cathy was struggling with a diet. In each frame, she speaks to herself:

Frame 1: I will take a drive, but won't go near the grocery store.

Frame 2: I will drive by the grocery store, but will not go in.

Frame 3: I will go in the grocery store, but will not walk down the aisle where the Halloween candy is on sale.

Frame 4: I will look at the candy, but not pick it up.

Frame 5: I will pick it up, but not buy it.

Frame 6: I will buy it, but not open it.

Frame 7: Open it, but not smell it.

Frame 8: Smell it, but not taste it.

Frame 9: Taste it, but not eat it.

Frame 10: Eat, eat, eat, eat, eat!

Once we have allowed our thoughts to dwell too long and go too far, it becomes very difficult to turn them around.

5. Meditate on Scripture.

According to Psalm 1:1-2, we have to know God's thoughts first if we want to think them: "Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night" (NRSV).

According to these verses, some people allow themselves to be influenced by the wrong people. They adopt the thought patterns of those whose minds are distorted. But others seek to dwell on God's thoughts. As a result, according to verse 3, they are stable, productive, and persevering: "They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper" (NRSV).

We need to expose our minds constantly to the truth of God's Word. Just consider how little we expose our minds to God's truth. A dedicated Christian will hear 50 sermons a year at 30 minutes each for a total of 25 hours of Bible exposure in a year. Is that enough to retrain your mind? A really dedicated Christian will receive 50 more hours in Sunday School for a total of 75 hours. That may sound like a lot, but the average person will watch 1,500 hours of TV in a year. Can 75 hours of Bible study counteract 1,500 hours of television? We might say that we don't have time to study the Word, but it only takes about 70 hours to read the entire Bible. And where do we find 1,500 hours in a year to watch TV?

Psalm 119:11 says that dwelling on God's Word will keep us away from sin: "I treasure your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against you" (NRSV). Our minds focus on that which makes the strongest impression on our minds. Studies have shown that a policeman who stops by the side of the road has seven times the chance of having his car hit by a passing motorist if he leaves his flashing light on as he does if he turns the light off. We need to keep God's Word before our minds so that we will put its truth into practice.

IV. Conclusion

Once we allow God to renew our thoughts, how long will it take to retrain our minds to think holy thoughts? A habit is formed by repeating an act for six weeks (Anderson, 1990). So if we can replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts for at least six weeks, those positive thoughts will become our new habits of thought.

To conclude these thoughts about the power of the mind, consider these descriptions of the mind. The mind is a garden that could be cultivated to produce the harvest that we desire. The mind is a workshop where the important decisions of life and eternity are made. The mind is an armory where we forge the weapons for our victory or our destruction. The mind is a battlefield where all the decisive battles of life are won or lost.

V. Reflection Questions

1. What stronghold in your mind do you struggle against? What negative thought pattern dominates your thoughts?

2. What negative input has the most influence on your thoughts? What steps can you take to limit that input?

3. How can you increase the amount of positive input your mind receives?

4. Locate a Scripture that will help correct your negative thought pattern. Write it on a card to keep with you at all times.

Next Topic: "How God Renews Our Emotions"

Sources:

Anderson, N. T. (1990). Victory over the darkness: Realizing the power of your identity in Christ. Ventura, CA: Regal Books.

Anderson, N. T. (1993). The bondage breaker. Eugene, OR: Harvest House.

Crabb, L. (1987). Understanding people: Deep longings for relationship. Grand Rapids, IL: Zondervan.

Hughes, R. K. (1991). Disciplines of a godly man. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

Lutzer, E. W. (1994). How to say no to a stubborn habit. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.