How to Stop Living a Divided Life
But basically, cognitive dissonance describes stress, anxiety, and uneasiness that a person lives with when there is a difference between their behavior and their beliefs, when they're living an ununified life, a divided life,…
Begin with what is true
But basically, cognitive dissonance describes stress, anxiety, and uneasiness that a person lives with when there is a difference between their behavior and their beliefs, when they're living an ununified life, a divided life, constantly fighting against themselves because they're trying to live with two conflicting ideas. In the case of what we were discussing, here are people who know that Jesus is coming in judgment, they know what he is taught about godly living, they know the truth, and yet they're not living that way.
And so there's always going to be a pull and a push and a tension in their lives, and that gets represented in stress, anxiety, and other things.
See God more clearly
It seems that Paul grew in his relationship with the Lord, and he began to understand that while there would be that battle for division every day, he had the power in the name of Jesus to make better choices, to choose the spirit over the flesh. When I have options in my life to choose to be consistent with my beliefs or to depart from them, and I choose Jesus, I choose to deny the flesh and align myself with his will, that feels amazing.
To be honest with you, sometimes I just want to lift my hands in the air and say, Thank you, Jesus, for the peace that you've brought in my life when I am unified in mind and faith, when our bodies and our minds are working together in the name of the Lord, it just feels incredible.
Let faith shape the response
Number one, if you are committing acts you know you need to stop and haven't been able to do so, number one, stop making it so easy. A huge mistake people make is they keep sin accessible.
They keep it close and wait for the power of God for their beliefs to bulk up and grab that behavior and straighten it up.
Live it today
God's power will work with you on these things, and the peace that comes from consistent living from a unified life, body and mind in Christ, it's the best. So go out there today and call on the name of the Lord and make a commitment and do whatever it takes to enjoy the peace that comes from unifying your life.
As always, please consider sharing this with people in your life who you think we can help.
Take the idea with you.
- 01Where does the central idea of “How to Stop Living a Divided Life” show up most clearly in my life right now?
- 02What does this episode call me to believe, stop, start, or handle differently?
- 03What is one specific action I can take today instead of merely agreeing with the idea?
Listen to the original episode
This article was adapted from Episode 76 · Unifying Your Life. Continue with the podcast for the original teaching in Kris’s voice.
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