Once you decide to get serious about becoming like Christ, you must begin to act in new ways. You will need to let go of some old routines, develop some new habits, and intentionally change the way you think. You can be certain that the Holy Spirit will help you with these changes. The Bible says, Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. 3 We become whatever we are committed to. This verse shows the two parts of spiritual growth: work out and work in. The work out is your responsibility, and the work in is Gods role. Spiritual growth is a collaborative effort between you and the Holy Spirit. Gods Spirit works with us, not just in us.

The Purpose-Driven Life 180 This verse, written to believers, is not about how to be saved, but how to grow. It does not say work for your salvation, because you cant add anything to what Jesus already did. During a physical workout, you exercise to develop your body, not to get a body. When you work out a puzzle, you already have all the piecesyour task is to put them together. Farmers work the land, not to get land, but to develop what they already have. God has given you a new life; now you are responsible to develop it with fear and trembling. That means to take your spiritual growth seriously! When people are casual about their spiritual growth, it shows they dont understand the eternal implications (as we saw in chapters 4 and 5).

DAY TWENTY-THREE: HOW WE GROW Changing your autopilot. To change your life, you must change the way you think. Behind everything you do is a thought. Every behavior is motivated by a belief, and every action is prompted by an attitude. God revealed this thousands of years before psychologists understood it: Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts. 4

Imagine riding in a speedboat on a lake with an automatic pilot set to go east. If you decide to reverse and head west, you have two possible ways to change the boats direction. One way is to grab the steering wheel and physically force it to head in the opposite direction from where the autopilot is programmed to go. By sheer willpower you could overcome the autopilot, but you would feel constant resistance. Your arms would eventually tire of the stress, youd let go of the steering wheel, and the boat would instantly head back east, the way it was internally programmed. This is what happens when you try to change your life with willpower: You say, Ill force myself to eat less . . . exercise more . . . quit being disorganized and late. Yes, willpower can produce short-term change, but it creates constant internal stress because