Some people call them paradigms, but I like the word “concepts” because it’s simpler to relate to.
And so many of the concepts we carry with us throughout our lives, somebody else put them there. They’re not ours. But we are governed by them.
If we want to change our results and our relationships, then we have to replace those concepts that somebody else stuck in there and have our own foundation.
Ask yourself, “Is God generous?”
If the correct answer to that question isn’t the foundation, then you’ve got a problem. In fact, you are lacking any kind of real foundation for the concepts that govern your life. They’re just there, floating about.
Let me give you a simple example.
I was riding home with one of my daughters and it was hot, so we stopped at a 7-11 to get a drink and fill the gas. I told her to just leave the car running so I could enjoy the air conditioning, but she just couldn’t do that. She turned it off and ran in.
When she got back, I asked, “Darlin’, why’d you turn the car off?”
She answered, “Because when I was 16, I took driver’s ed, and they told me that if I fill the car up with gas while it’s running, the car will probably explode.”
That’s when she noticed two other people getting gas, and said, “Dad, look, their cars are running. And my husband does the same thing.”
So I explained to her, “It’s just a concept, but guess what? It’s governing your behavior.”
Now, that’s one concept she’d been carrying for years, and I’m not sure she’ll ever change it.
And there are a lot of other, much more serious (and even destructive) concepts that are holding you back.
Nor is this a new problem.
The authors of the New Testament were dealing with this problem 2,000 years ago, which is why we are told repeatedly to RENEW OUR MINDS.
Now, again, changing a concept is one of the most difficult things in the world to do. But you aren’t alone in this.
