Our thoughts can steal our future. Almost everything we say and do begins with a thought, just one thought. As we rehearse a thought and have some experiences, we form beliefs. And those beliefs can keep us from seeing who we really are and God's plans and purposes for our lives.
Beliefs are powerful forces in our lives. If we're going to change what we believe, we need to understand how beliefs are formed. Beliefs are formed, and we have an experience that we give a meaning to. Then we live from that decision. Strong beliefs are formed by strong emotions, strong emotional experiences.
For example, you're on your way to a party. You stop by your grandmother's house to pick up a late birthday present that just arrived in the mail. A pair of red pants. Grandma insists that you try them on. You look at your watch. You're really late, and you were supposed to meet someone at the party.
You run out the door wearing the red pants. At a party, a, uh, guy is telling a really funny joke about a mysterious person wearing red pants. Just as he gets to the punchline, you walk in the door, he gives the punchline, and everybody doubles over in laughter. It's so funny that all night people take one look at you and laugh.
How would you feel? You never find out it was the result of a joke. How long would you stay at that party? Most of us would leave feeling there's something wrong with me. Or maybe you would think those people really just don't like me. We would be hurt and confused.
They were clearly laughing at us. What happened? You had an experience, a very strong emotional experience to which you gave meaning. The meaning we give to events or our understanding, uh, of events can be wildly wrong. Then you formed a belief about that experience and the meaning you gave to it.
We often form beliefs to protect ourselves from that experience. We might create a belief that it's not good to get too close to people. If I don't get close, they can't hurt me anymore. Much of the pain we experience in our lives comes from our beliefs. Our beliefs can be false, but we are reluctant to change them because we create beliefs to protect ourselves.
As Christians, we must find our identity in Christ, not in our own thoughts or beliefs. Ephesians 1:11 in the message translation says this beautifully. It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we're living for.