Why Is Behavior So Hard to Change?
Jesus said, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). Why is that? Why do we have so much trouble getting our bodies to do what our spirit desires? When I know my life would be so much better if I could just change my behavior in a certain area, why is it so hard?
Behavior follows thoughts. It’s impossible to live in a way that isn’t in line with your thought life. What you think about set the trajectory of your life. This is why there are so many passages of Scripture that command us to set our thoughts on godly things.
“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:2).
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2).
“Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things” (Philippians 3:19).
The Steering Wheel of Your Life
Your thought life is the steering wheel of your life. It’s impossible to let your thoughts run in one direction and steer your behavior in a different direction.
The problem is we live in a world where spiritual realities are invisible. We can see temporal things but the most important realities—spiritual laws, faith, unbelief, divine rewards, angels, demons, God, even our own hearts—all invisible.
You get up in the morning and spend 15 minutes alone with God, you pray, fill your mind with spiritual truths from God’s Word, then go out into the world where a godless culture bombards you with a secular mindset for the next 23 hours. Even if you manage to punctuate those hours with prayer, still, those prayers last for seconds, maybe minutes, but not hours.
How to Focus on God the Rest of the Day
How can you set your mind on things above for longer stretches?
The primary way—the way Jesus was most fond of and that he taught us to use—is sermons. Jesus devoted his time to preaching (Matthew 4:23). It was the reason he came into this world (Mark 1:38). He taught his disciples to do the same (Mark 3:14).
A good sermon can keep your mind on things above for an hour or longer. Sometimes a lot longer if it’s an especially memorable message.
But sermons aren’t the only way to fix your thoughts on spiritual things. What if there were a way to set not only your thoughts, but also your affections—emotions, attitudes, desires, and imagination—on spiritual realities for hours, days, or weeks?
The Role of Christian Fiction
That was my goal when I set out to write the Walk with the Wind novel series. I spent years studying the art of storytelling, learning everything I could to accomplish this one purpose: to craft a story that would take abstract gospel truths and dramatize them in a such a way as to imprint them on the reader’s soul.
Most of the time, learning God’s Word is hard work. But when conveyed in a story—a story that transports you into another world to the point where you forget you’re even reading—that can press biblical truths into your heart in ways that can last a lifetime.
This is what the world does with their entertainment every day. They take worldly, godless ideas and make them seem wise and beautiful and attractive in the way they portray them in movies, novels, and other modes of storytelling.
How many times has a skilled TV screenwriter made you root for a murderer or drug dealer with their storytelling Jedi mind tricks? What if someone used those same techniques to help you love the things Scripture says are beautiful? I believe that is the role all Christian fiction should serve.
What Do You Think?
I would love your opinion. Was that goal accomplished in Escape from Paradise and At War with the Wind: the Fight for Abigail? And what other books have achieved that purpose in your heart?
I’m in the middle of reading “At War with the Wind”. It’s my first Christian allegory. What a unique, creative way to speak Biblical truths. It truly saddens me to see how this crazy world has accepted so many immoral values. What used to be wrong is now somehow right. I think the more Christian writers can share their gifts, the more the world needs to hear those voices. No matter how nutty it all becomes God is STILL in control.
Love this message! So awesome that art like fiction novels can grow us as Christians and keep our minds on God. Great post!
WOW! That last paragraph hit home. HARD! “How many times has a skilled TV screenwriter made you root for a murderer or drug dealer…” That happens to me all the time. I get upset with myself because I feel that way. I really need to guard my thoughts more often.
Both of your books are wonderful. They pulled me into the story and made me question how I make the choices I make. The characters are so relatable, and I love reading how others struggle with the same problems I am struggling with and seeing how they overcome them.
Like Abby, I subscribed to your newsletter and posts. You are such an inspiration. If I can write half as great as you do, I’ll be elated.
Thanks for the encouraging words Tammy! That means a lot.
Wow, Bro. Darrell!
I loved reading this post. One of my favorites I have read this year in fact!
The way you write reminds me a lot of my friend Philip (Philipwilder.com), that also uses scripture and life application in such a powerful, captivating way! I am subbing to your newsletter! You got me hooked. When my website comes out one day, I want my words to SING (as I’ve heard Steve Laube say) as much as yours do and for God to speak through me! Such a blessing! God bless you, my friend! 🙌🏻🙏🏻😊
Thanks Abby!!!
COOMENT FROM AUSTIN
This is brilliant. Such an untapped area of ministry.
I’ve never really been drawn to allegories or fantasy or Christian fiction in general, but I’ve also never thought about it in the way you describe here. I can definitely see the value of it now!
I haven’t read the second book yet, but it was *absolutely* accomplished for me in the first.
Concepts that I know will stay with me for the rest of my life include:
1) This idea of “true size” and leaving footprints. This had by far the biggest impact on me. Such a profound insight.
2) The Bible as a tiny, rundown, empty shack from the outside, but a vast, grand, beautiful hall on the inside.
3) A Christian being “at once, above his station and beneath his stature,” (if I’ve understood this concept correctly.) Such a wonderful description of how the Christian should view his position in this world, and, if we’re living rightly, how we should be viewed by the world. But ironically, I think if we *strive* to be viewed this way, or to somehow “project an image,” we’ll get it wrong. It has to be genuinely authentic from a changed heart that has been humbled by God’s love and grace and mercy. Anything less will be exposed as fake.
4) That you can’t lead someone to a place we’re not ourselves going. This concept literally brought me tears, the conviction was so great.
5) The fact that a single moment of relying on a cottage piece can lay waste to an entire score of invisible enemies. It’s so easy to forget this reality and let negative thoughts have their say. But if I remember what’s actually at stake, my thoughts are transformed in an instant. This part of the book reminded of this quote from C.S. Lewis, which I have taped inside my Bible,
“Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible.”
There are others, of course, but these are big ones. And I’m sure even more will come to light in the years to come.
Wow. Thank you Austin. This one post makes every minute of the years I spent on this book worth it!!!