Day 3. Heart Change
Question 1
Before God worked in my heart to bring about change, I was taught to fence in my behavior, limiting my access to things that tempted me. However, this approach is like putting a muzzle on a biting dog - it may temporarily prevent biting, but the dog still wants to bite. As soon as the muzzle is removed, the dog will resume its biting behavior.
Teaching that relies on external measures to modify our behavior treats us like animals that require bits and bridles to control them, but we’re not supposed to live like animals!
Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle, or they will not come to you.
Psalm 32:9
If we adopt the external restraints approach, the only way to achieve freedom from sinful behavior would be to eliminate all temptation entirely. We’d need to put ourselves in some kind of prison where access to temptation is impossible. However, living in prison isn’t freedom!
Question 1. Have you tried anything in the past to “muzzle” yourself so you could not do the thing you wanted to do? Please describe:
Log in / create an account to enroll or continue where you left off.