Beliefs

"I was out of balance as a kid with no guidance from adults helping me build accurate beliefs that would enable me to see life from God's viewpoint.  My early experiences led me to continuously seek pleasure, thrills, excitement, and fun.  These experiences dominated my mind, and I had no idea that the things I thought about all day and night would wind up settling into my heart as major, powerful beliefs.  Do you know what the world calls this pleasure-craving, thrill-seeking belief? Hedonism.  And I'm convinced that hedonism is the dominant belief that permeates our society.  I will explain in chapter 5 how I changed this belief, but suffice it to say for now that early experiences are one source of the beliefs we hold, often for the rest of our lives."  Gary Smalley - Change Your Heart, Change Your Life

I'm reading this book that the above excerpt was taken from.  It is an amazing book about how to change the way you think so that you can change your life.  I am only on the second chapter and I feel like this blog is essential.  This book is speaking to me in so many ways, and helping me grow in Christ.

This specific chapter was about our beliefs.  Where they came from.  Ask yourself really, what do you believe?  How do you react to situations?  What happens when life gets hard, what do you do?  Every single action you make is a reaction to what you believe.  The way we act is based on what we believe.  In the book, Gary Smalley gave an example of how his father when he was growing up had a really bad temper.  Gary hated the way his father treated them because he was always mad and yelling.  When Gary had his own children he vowed he would never become like his father, he told them "If I ever get out of control angry like my father did, let me know."  Long story short, when their family went on vacation Gary went all angry and out of control and his kids called him out on it and told him that he was acting like his father.  What's the point in me telling you this?  We are shaped by the way we grew up.  We can inherit bad beliefs, like Gary's anger and bad beliefs can come from our culture (like many women who get beaten by their husbands in Africa become accustomed to this treatment).

He then goes on to state that wrong beliefs are the source of all evils.  "What is the source of all this evil?  Did not Jesus tell us that evil actions come from the beliefs stored in a person's heart? (Matthew 15: 18-20)? It's true.  Everything anyone does is a reflection of what is in his or her heart.  These actions come from beliefs picked up early in life form experience, family or the culture and those beliefs produce the selfishness, violence, and greed we see rampant around us."

Our beliefs are real.  It is important to have the right beliefs stored in your heart.  And if right now you have the wrong beliefs, this book will help you change your heart and change your life.  I'm only on chapter 2.  I don't know how to change these beliefs, but Gary Smalley says that he's done it, that he's helped many people change their lives because of the steps he has taken to change the beliefs that they inherited.

Sometimes I think I'm worthless.  Sometimes I think that I'm not good enough to be a good mom to my children or that I have been a horrible wife.  I need to change my heart and change my life.  My value is in Heaven, that much I know.  And I know that God loves me and is carrying me through all of these difficult times.

If you feel like your life is going in the wrong direction, if you feel helpless and bound by your past, if you feel like you can't do anything to change your life, then read this book.  But you MUST be willing to actually WANT to change your life.  You can't change your life if you don't want to.