It's Not About Behavior Modification

Many Christians have a legalistic view of God. God says do this and don't do this, the people at church don't do this, therefore I can't do it either, etc. This form of legalism is called religion and many people believe this is what the Bible teaches us to do and how to live. This is one of the most convincing lies that the devil has ever told. Religion says nothing about heart change, but rather behavior modification. Behavior modification says if you look at porn you need to stop looking at porn, if you are an alcoholic you need to stop drinking, if you have a problem cursing you need to quit and stop speaking that way. You might ask, "well whats wrong with ceasing to do all those thing? They are sins aren't they?" Yes they are sins, but in your walk with Jesus he is not interested in you modifying your behavior, he is interested in changing your heart. Almost always when you change your behavior without Jesus changing your heart beforehand there is always either a return to that sin, or a replacement of one sin for another i.e. I'm going to stop drinking, and instead I am going to smoke. That is a far fetched example but people do it all the time. In essence, as you are walking with the Lord and he shows you an area in your life that you need to repent of, you don't look at that area and stop doing it, you look into your heart and see why you were doing it in the first place. Many people have addictions that they face whether it be cigarettes, alcohol, pornography, drugs, or food and they seek a way to modify their behavior to get these addictions under control. Instead you need to look at it from God's perspective. God is good. He knows what your needs are. By rejecting God and embracing sin we tell the Lord that we do not trust in him to provide for our needs. Since I have named these examples I will continue to use them, but be aware just because I have not mentioned it there are many other areas where heart change is necessary, it does not just apply to addictions. However, when you look at porn, with your choice you tell God that you do not trust his goodness to provide for your sexual needs. When you continually retreat to alcohol and get drunk to forget your problems you tell God with your choice that you do not trust in his goodness to provide in the situation that you are running from. You are putting your trust in alcohol and not God. When you worry about food all the time and when you will get your next meal, you tell God with your choice that you do not trust in his goodness to provide for you daily bread to sustain you. Instead in each situation you need to pray to the Holy Spirit and ask for his power to change your heart, that you do not want to reject God and live for yourself, but want to live by the power of the Holy Spirit so that in your weakness he can be strong. Do you think that if you pray and ask the Holy Spirit to give you the strength to trust in his goodness and provision for your needs he will deny you that request. Absolutely not. Do you think that if you submit yourself to God, stop living for yourself, start asking God to change your heart that he will refuse? Absolutely not. God wants to change your heart. Changing hearts is his specialty. If you try to modify your behavior you will either become proud because you succeeded, or you will fall into despair because no matter what you do you fail each time you try to change yourself. Jesus didn't die on a cross so you could get saved, take over and perfect your own faith. He died to save you and what he started in you He plans to carry it on to completion by changing your heart. Stop trying to change yourself. That is not how God intended your relationship with him to work. Ask God to show you what areas you need to repent of and then ask him to change your heart to be like Jesus in that area. He will answer.