31 Days: Day 13

The Discipline of Unlearning

From the moment we are born, we begin learning. We learn how to develop motor skills, basic coordination, how to roll over, crawl, sit up, stand, walk, talk.  We even move from different stages of learning such as the cognitive stage where you first determine what to do with an object rather than how to do it.  Then you move to the associative stage which deals with the refining of a skill and finally the autonomous stage where a performance becomes automatic.  For example you automatically walk without conscious thought.  Now learning is a normal part of our maturity from infancy into adulthood. Much of our learning is greatly affected by our culture from the things we see, hear and experience.  We learn how to dress, how to date, how to relate to others, how to be successful, how to communicate, etc.  There are many things that influence the way we live life from the things we watch on tv, what we listen to, what we read, how we spend our time and with whom...We are ever-learning creatures.  

However, when you place your faith in Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior  2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come." And Romans 12:2 says, "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." In other words we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds which means to replace, reestablish, breath new life into.  Another way I like to think of it, is to unlearn that which has greatly influenced our former way of thinking.  As Christ-followers we are not to live as the world lives but as Christ would have us to live.  

Having been a Christ-follower for 14+ years now, I am still unlearning the ways of this world in which our culture has greatly influenced me. You might ask, "How do I do this?"  You must replace your old way of thinking with the Word of God. He has much to say about our worth and who we are in Him, how we should relate to others, what our purpose is... and believe me, it is quite contrary to much of what our culture has taught us.  God has a higher standard and it is much more fulfilling when you unlearn the ways of this world and replace it with the knowledge of knowing Him.