Change begins with the letter R

Change begins with the letter R. I'll bet you thought it began with a C, didn't you? For me, the change God is working in my life right now begins with an R.

R stands for:

• RECOGNIZE
• REPLACE
• REHEARSE
• RENEW

Most of us can look at our behavior and see things we want to change. We must ask ourselves, "where does this behavior come from?" Well, the answer is - it comes from our beliefs. What we believe determines how we behave. It does no good to try to change our behavior if we do nothing to change the belief it is based on. Our behavior will always be dictated by what we believe. That's just a simple - or maybe NOT so simple - fact of life.

Sadly, what we often discover about one or more of our beliefs, is that it is a false belief... NOT true... A distortion... A lie. Even sadder, sometimes we don't realize we are believing a lie. For instance: All my life, if you had asked me if I believed God loved me, I would have answered with a resounding "yes." Yet, that wasn't what my behavior exhibited at all. Instead of behaving like a dearly loved child of God, I constantly put myself down with self deprecating and disparaging comments. I didn't like myself much less love myself. And I didn't expect anyone else to either - least of all God. As a consequence, I constantly battled negativity and depression.

When I went to Israel ten years ago, I had an encounter with God that clearly showed me I had given intellectual assent to the belief that God loved me but I had not embraced the belief in my heart and soul. You can read what I wrote about Encountering Abba in Israel here. It was an encounter that will forever be a milestone in my life. That encounter was a catalyst of change for me. The first thing that encounter did was help me RECOGNIZE that I was believing a lie.

The second thing it did was to REPLACE the lie with the truth of God. Scriptures that I had known for years upon years sprang to new life and clarity as the Holy Spirit spoke them to me in a fresh depth of intimacy. God began to teach me how to make His truth a part of my heart and soul in order for it to shape the belief that determined my behavior. That's the third "R." He taught me to REHEARSE the truth day after day after day until it was deeply ingrained in my mind and spirit. You can read about that process here, in a post I wrote called, Experiencing Abba Day by Day.

Can you guess what happened when I RECOGNIZED the lie I was believing, REPLACED it with the truth, and REHEARSED that truth daily? I was RENEWED in my mind and, as a result, my behavior changed. The Bible calls that "transformation."

...do not be conformed to the world,

but be transformed

by the renewing of your mind.

Romans 12:2

Today I am applying these same four principles to changing the behavior of unhealthy habits that have made me overweight. Lasting change will not come from simply changing my behavior. I must change what I believe. Daily I am examining my behaviors and asking the Lord to help me RECOGNIZE the lie I believe that causes me to act in that way. Then I REPLACE that lie with His truth. I REHEARSE the truth by writing the scripture(s) [that speaks the truth I need to embrace] on an index card and reading it multiple times throughout the day. I truly believe God will use this to RENEW my mind and change my behavior.

What about you? Do you have any changes you need to make?

Ask God to help you RECOGNIZE if you are believing a lie

REPLACE the lie with truth

REHEARSE the truth over and over in your mind

Enjoy the RENEWAL that results

God is faithful!