For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you. Luke 17:21 (NKJV)
Change what’s going on in you and the outside changes effortlessly.
We put all this effort into trying to change our outward tendencies and behaviour. Meanwhile, Jesus said that the kingdom of God is within you.
It doesn’t work to keep trying to change the outside without changing the inside. You can work on your habits all you want, but as soon as you relax control over your focus, you’ll deviate back to what you truly believe on the inside.
For example, let’s pretend you suffer from low self-esteem. You’ve heard that you should think and say good things about yourself, so you start trying to replace negative thoughts with positive ones. Every time you think, I’m a loser, you stop and say, “I’m not a loser. I’m a good person.”
After a while, you expect your habitual way of thinking to change. But every time things don’t go as planned, the same thought pops into your mind, “I’m a loser.”
When you go about things this way, it’s a lot of work and you don’t get great results. Why? Because you still believe you’re a loser. You need to change what you believe and then your habits will fall into line.
If you meditate on what God’s Word says about you, you’ll begin to change your core beliefs. Instead of thinking you’re a loser when you make a mistake, you’ll think, “I messed up but that doesn’t change who I am. I may have failed, but I’m not a failure. I’m God’s kid, and He loves me just the way I am.”
Remember that renewing your mind is the long-term solution you need.