More on Change, Transformation and Death.

Mike's posted his Eight Simple phrases on a new blog.

I disabled comments here, discuss at his site, please.

On Change, Transformation, and Death.

Mike made a quick post about Change vs. Transformation a few months back, and Bruce posted some additional thoughts yesterday. Go read those posts first to get the context of this post. Got me to thinking about my own life.

I commented on Bruce's post with this question: "what motivation do we have to accept, let alone initiate, transformation?" The answer I had in mind is along the lines of: "is there being a real or perceived value to self, either indirectly or directly by choosing this new path." In those terms, it would seem making choices is easy, or at least ought to be.

But is it really?

The smoker usually knows he's ruining his health by smoking. He knows there's a value in quitting, yet he lights up the next one, the one after that, and continues on the destructive path even though he KNOWS there's value in the transformation of smoker to non-smoker.

Why doesn't he just quit?

You could put many situations in the same story. The alcoholic, the meth addict, the abused wife the pre-christian. And me.

Why do I continue to hold on to unhealthy habits and ways of living when I *know* that changing them will add to my life, and to the lives of those around me? If I'm healthier, I likely will live longer and be here for my wife and son. If I were more organized, I'd be more efficient and successful at my job, and have a better life in my home. If, if, if... So what prevents me from choosing healthier, more productive ways of living?

At some point in my life, I made a choice to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I'm glad that I did. My motivation for that was learning about man's separation from God and that by choosing Jesus, I'd be reunited with Him when my earthly body died. A perceived value, even a selfish choice.

A few years ago, after many, many times of lighting a cigarette and telling myself that I needed to quit, I did. I lit the last cigarette in the pack that I had, threw it away, tossed my lighter in a drawer, and haven't smoked a cigarette since. I just looked, that lighter is still in the drawer here, I use it to light the occasional candle.

Yet, I feel I'm in my own way of making...er scratch that, of trusting God's work in me to transform me. Or is it not really letting God work in me, it's making better choices because He gave me free will and trusts me to make choices. Or is it God's in control and I need to let go and let Him. (I suspect the answer to all of the above is "yes").

WHY then, if I see value in doing things differntly, do I continue on the wrong path?

So, if you've read the links and have kept up:
Mike's point:
Change, and the desire to change, is doomed because it is incremental which allows us to retain control - which we'll likely never give up.

Transformation is successful because we let go completely of the old way and trust in God that the new way is good.

Bruce's addition:
Something must die for transformation to occur. The old way has to die for the new way o flourish.

Steve's struggle:
How do I choose to initiate transformation - or get the hell out of the way and let it happen?

This nails it

Thanks, Toni.