Act and react like a Christian

Around the turn of the 19th century, a Russian physician named Ivan Pavlov won a Nobel Prize for his experiments with dogs. All of them had one thing in common – they salivated around food. But Pavlov wanted to find out if salivation could be caused by another stimulus, so he conditioned the dogs by ringing a bell before feeding them. Eventually the dinner bell caused salivation, even if the food wasn’t served. Pavlov referred to this learned relationship as a conditioned reflex. We have all been consciously or subconsciously conditioned our entire lives. Much of our behaviour was dictated by those conditioned reflexes. Some conditioned reflexes are as normal and natural as a blush. Others are as destructive as drinking to drown your sorrows. But conscious or subconscious, harmless or harmful, one thing is certain: we are far more conditioned than we realize. And one dimension of our spiritual growth is being reconditioned by the grace of God. Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said…But I say to you.” Jesus uses this couplet repeatedly. What was He doing? He was uninstalling Old Testament applications and reinstalling New Testament truths. It was no longer “An eye for an eye.” Jesus upgraded it to “Turn to them the other cheek,” which required reconditioned reflexes (see Matthew 5:38-39 NIV). Sometimes it’s much easier to act like a Christian than to react like one. How does this change in our reactions take place? By the Holy Spirit. “We are being changed to be like him [Jesus]. This change…comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NCV).