Futile Thinking

Maybe it’s because of my math background, or maybe it’s just the way I’m wired. But most of the time I think in a linear fashion. You know, “if A, then B”. Formulas and lists are my friends. I always read the instructions, and I like to follow recipes.

But I’ve lived long enough to know that life doesn’t follow formulas. And, more to the point, our spiritual lives and growth don’t always progress in a linear direction. Sometimes we take 3 steps forward and 2 steps back – or maybe even 2 steps forward and 3 steps back. And sometimes we veer off and get sidetracked on a completely different and useless path. It can be discouraging if you are a serious Christian.

I want to be more mature than I was when I was younger. I want to master negative natural bents and leave them in my past. I don’t want to ever have any lapses. In fact, I don’t even want to remember some of the ways I used to act or respond. I want to consistently be getting better than I was – with no detours.

But I think we have succumbed to the world’s thinking when we expect these kinds of results in our Christian walk. Self-help rhetoric leads us to believe that every change we need or want is within our own power to implement and achieve. We just have to will it and work hard at it. But that’s not how the Christian walk works.

The Bible makes it clear that we cannot save ourselves or improve ourselves on our own. We can’t even trust ourselves, since “the heart is deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9). It is only by the work of God’s Spirit in us that we make any progress at all (Philippians 2:13). The transformation we are called to is a slow, methodical process that requires the renewal of our minds (Romans 12:2). Because of our sin nature, this process will never be fully completed on this earth (see Romans 7:15-25).

So what can I do with my linear thinking? I need to temper it with the truth of God’s Word when it comes to spiritual matters. I will never reach perfection until heaven, but I still have a responsibility to partner with God in working on my progress toward sanctification (Philippians 2:12 and Romans 12:1-2a). My progress may not always be evident, but God can be trusted to be faithful to complete the work that he began in me (Philippians 1:6). I’m so thankful that becoming more Christlike isn’t left up to me by myself!