Turn “Need to” Into “Want to”
“Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope: and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5 WEB)
In life, many things happen to us, and how events affect us is how we view and attach meaning to them.
The apostle Paul had this revelation, and he taught the church to view suffering in a new light—to rejoice in suffering because it produces perseverance, proven character, and hope.
He knew how to reframe the undesirable things in life to become something that he wanted.
Suffering produces pain, but Paul reframed it to mean the training of his perseverance, character, and hope. Something bad became something precious and valuable.
We can apply this mindset to anything in life so that our trust is always in God and not in our self-efforts.
For example, if you see yourself putting on weight, your flesh may cause you to think, “I must go on a diet and exercise more so that I can lose weight.” This way of viewing the situation makes you reactive—on the defensive posture instead of wholeheartedly choosing to do something because you love it. When something is viewed as a burdensome chore, you will struggle with it.
Instead, why not detach your goal from the activity and just focus on the enjoyment of the beneficial action? You are not trying to exercise to lose weight—you are already young, healthy, slim, fit, and strong. Jesus paid for you to freely receive health and healing by faith.
When you exercise, there doesn’t have to be a goal. You can reframe your mindset and exercise just because you find it fun and enjoyable. “I like to run and feel my body challenging its limits. At the same time, I get time to enjoy the beautiful scenery that God has made, and listen to the Holy Spirit speaking to me.”
Wow, just like that, exercise without needing to gain anything from it becomes something desirable, just like the enjoyable activity of playing games for fun. Guess what, you will still reap the fitness benefits of exercise when you do it.
This method of refraining things is important because we don’t want to fall into the deception of getting things done by self-effort. Whatever is done by the flesh apart from God’s blessing has to be tiresomely maintained by the flesh.
If you’re struggling financially, and you’re always thinking, “I need to work so that I can earn money,” you’ll be perpetually stressed out, your performance at work will de-prove, and the self-reliance hinders God’s gracious provision and favor that must be received by faith.
No, you’re not working to earn money. You are a child of the wealthiest King of Heaven and earth—money is not something worth worrying about. You are always well-supplied and never lacking. God’s blessing makes you truly wealthy in all ways and He adds no sorrow nor trouble to it.
“Yahweh’s blessing brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.” (Proverbs 10:22 WEB)
Instead of feeling forced to work, work because you enjoy it, and because the people you deal with at work will benefit greatly from having Jesus as Lord. You would love to show them His glory through your words and deeds. When you think this way, you detach the goal of earning money from the action of working, and it just becomes an activity that you enjoy and look forward to—it becomes something very meaningful that you can be passionate about.
When you do your best at work to shine brightly for God, to showcase Christ in you, you will still be paid, and very likely, your job performance will improve. The state of mind will change from one that’s dragging your feet to work, to one that runs in, excited to embark on the next task for Jesus’ sake so that more may glorify our Father in Heaven.
Many times, God’s word says “repent”, and I agree that we can change our mind about all the ways we think negatively. Reacting by the flesh, we will always try to compensate for some lacking area by doing hard work, choosing man’s way instead of God’s way. To see a positive transformation, all it takes is a little reframing according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We don’t have to act like homeless orphans fending for themselves on the streets. We have a Father, and we are His beloved children. When your flesh tells you that you “need to” do something, reframe the whole thing by seeing it through Jesus’ finished work at the cross and what that sacrifice has accomplished for you. See how you can proactively “want to” do the task. Rest from fleshly self-efforts, and actively receive the supply of grace for every need!
Satan the serpent wants you to be stressed out, defeated, and distracted from the things of God so that you are no threat to his kingdom. Discover the powerful spiritual weapons you have been equipped with, and how to always emerge victorious in spiritual warfare: https://www.miltongoh.net/store/p25/Silencing_the_Serpent%3A_How_Christians_Can_Be_Victorious_in_Spiritual_Warfare.html
