Behavior Modification?

I’m realizing that my blog is simply a forum to explain my tweets. Twitter has the unfortunate ability to give someone a 140 character momentary glimpse into my thought process. In most cases that’s a bad thing because you don’t have the luxury of being in my brain the entire journey, just the final thought. Which usually sounds harsh, direct, arrogant or even condescending and that’s definitely not my intention. The Lord just has this way of convicting me throughout the day regarding my attitude, my actions, my thoughts, etc and 9 times out of 10 what I post on twitter is meant for me just as much as it is for everyone else. So that said, the phrase below is one of those tweets and the blog that follows will give you a glimpse into my thought process.

Behavior modification is not spiritual transformation. Some of us have modified behaviors and think we've been spiritually transformed?

Let me say it a different way.

Anyone can modify a behavior, but not everyone has been transformed by the Holy Spirit. If you walk up to the average person that claims to be a Christian and ask them how they know they’ve been spiritually transformed, most of your answers will have to do with a modification or change in behavior. I quit doing this or I stopped doing that. I don’t gossip as much as I used to or I no longer cheat on my wife. Now clearly these are good changes and are definitely a part of the process in which we grow in Christ, but they don’t necessarily mean you’ve been transformed by the Holy Spirit. My buddy Paul, who’s a self proclaimed atheist, can modify any behavior he wants but that doesn’t mean he’s given his life to Jesus Christ. The problem with pointing to a change in behavior as confirmation of spiritual transformation is that as long as we’re on this earth we will constantly sin. Saved or not, we’re sinners and as soon as we point to a behavior we’ve “modified” as assurance of salvation Satan will attack us from another angle and he will try and exploit us in a new and different way.

True spiritual transformation brings with it a supernatural outpouring of your life into those God brings into your path. It’s the ability to care for those that no one else cares for and the willingness to love someone even when everyone else has stopped loving them. To put it simply, when the Holy Spirit enters your heart you can’t help but look at your life through a different set of lenses, and your actions will be unexplainable. Slowly the Lord will chip away at the behaviors not in line with His word and you will be spiritually transformed into the vessel He wants you to be. This process will certainly include a change in behavior, but it’s not the only indication that you’ve been transformed. A true sign of spiritual transformation and a clear indicator that you are walking with Christ is a heart of ongoing repentance when you do screw up and a life full of bearing fruit and loving others.

Far too often we gauge our walk with Christ based on how well we've modified an old behavior or how well we abstain from doing certain things and we pay little or no attention to what the Bible says it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

"My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

John 15:8