You’re fooling yourself again… when you think just one cookie won’t break your diet. Or that you must purchase batteries and Chapstick simply because they’re in the checkout line. It’s so convenient. While you’re at it, go ahead and buy a little bottle of soda for a couple bucks when you could nab a two-liter for half the price elsewhere in the store.
Face it, these are things where you are either consciously or subconsciously fooling yourself. But don’t worry, it’s not your fault, you think; it’s the fault of devious marketers. And the people who raised you. Plus the peer pressure of your social circle.
Right?
Right?
Fooling Yourself into Impulse
These are some pretty common scenarios. They separate many people from money, health, and even joy. It’s hardly a new revelation, though.
In 1975, George Ainslie published a study called Specious Reward: A Behavioral Theory of Impulsiveness and Impulse Control. In this work, he explains his reasoning for the research, saying the goal is to find out why so many people
…freely choose the poorer, smaller, or more disastrous of two alternative rewards even when they seem to be entirely familiar with the alternatives. I call this kind of choice impulsive, although the word has also been used for behavior that is simply unpremeditated.
In the study, Ainslie lists three possibilities for our impulsiveness:
- we don’t understand consequences of behavior
- despite consequences, we’re compelled by a “lower” principle (such as how we’re raised)
- we accept consequences due to the value we place on satisfying current desires.
If I were to summarize each of these reasonings, I’d say our impulsiveness is the result of either 1.) Ignorance, 2.) Nature, or 3.) Selfishness. Methinks it’s a cocktail of all three in most cases. And when we are in an intellectually drunken state like this, we fool ourselves into believing what we may know or believe to be true.
Case in point, as Ainslie presents, the lack of impulse control – driven by ignorance, nature of man, and selfish desire – is the toxic mix leading Adam and Eve into the fall. In what I have observed of Edwards’ life and work, I suspect he thought much about this sort of thing. And that’s the driving motivation of resolution 68.
How might we sober our ignorances, natures, and selfishness so God may reign in our lives and be properly glorified?
Jonathan Edwards Resolution 68
Edwards’ Resolution #68 (as it was written)
Resolved, to confess frankly to myself all that which I find in myself, either infirmity or sin; and, if it be what concerns religion, also to confess the whole case to God, and implore needed help. July 23 and August 10, 1723.
Edwards’ Resolution #68 (in my modernized language)
To be fully honest with myself, and with things concerning my spiritual health, I will confess all to God; seeking his help to overcome my sinfulness.
You’re fooling yourself when you give into impulses that oppose your worldview or know to be right. I do it too. How do we better condition our hearts?
Knowing Your Heart
On August 10th, Edwards wrote:
As a help against that inward shameful hypocrisy, to confess frankly to myself all that which I find in myself, either infirmity or sin; also to confess to God, and open the whole case to him… and earnestly implore of him the help that is needed; not in the least to endeavour to smother what is in my heart, but to bring it all out to God and my conscience.
Why did he determine a need for this resolve? Well, as he says, it is a means by which he might arrive at a greater knowledge of his own heart.
But why is that important? Well, for starters, we cannot confess to God and be repentant if we don’t actually know what’s going on. Secondly, it’s very difficult to improve upon a state in which you are fooling yourself from believing.
Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. – Proverbs 4:23 NLT
Guarding our hearts is not the building of walls around them so we never get hurt or let others know us. No, it is about purity. About watching and protecting the things that influence our hearts. Are those influences of Godly origin? Or of sin?
And what if they are of sin? Don’t stay ignorant to the fact. Know that it is a natural state in need of correction. Commune with God, the ultimate cleanser and corrector. The great refiner.
Knowing Hearts of Men
Edwards speaks on the corruptible heart in his journal a bit earlier in that week. For August 6th, he writes,
Very much convinced of the extraordinary deceitfulness of the heart, and how exceedingly affection or appetite blinds the mind, and brings it into entire subjection. There are many things which I should really think to be my duty, if I had the same affections, as when I first came from New York; which now I think not to be so. How doth appetite stretch the reason, to bring both ends together.
Edwards may seem to be pondering on his own heart state in this passage. However, he is alluding to the heart of man in general. It is corruptible and, in its natural state, selfish. Without proper conditioning, it will justify any action – theft, deceit, even murder – to achieve what it desires.
For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within you; they are what defile you. -Mark 7:21-23 NLT
When we enter into a life of following Jesus, we accept Him as Lord and Savior. For far too many people, though, that is the extent of their relationship with God. They continue in wicked ways, because they neglect the inward call to be and do better than before they prayed.
Why the Holy Spirit doesn’t grab their hearts and clinch upon it until their ignorance, wicked influences, and selfish lusts cease, I do not know. Why I cannot always control my own heart despite a rational desire for it, I do not know.
It’s the heart of man that must be sobered into pursuing a lifetime of refining life, on purpose.
Knowing the Heart of God
The solution to man’s corruptible heart, then, is transformation. One from being infantile and filled with sin, to one that is made of apt wisdom and selflessness.
Edwards sought to pace his heart in rhythm with God’s. He thought much about this sort of thing and seemed to be discontent when out of rhythm. In fact, in his August 10th entry, Edwards speaks to those times when his heart and mind sway in their target.
His conclusion is akin to grasping at mental straws until it is back in sync. As he says, the answer is
…to pitch at random on what alights to my thoughts, and to go from that to other things which that shall bring into my mind, and follow this progression as a clue, till I come to what I can meditate on with profit and attention, and then to follow that…
This might seem like a desperate act. And maybe it was. I don’t really know how it worked for him. However, I doubt it was panic stricken. Edwards was contemplative and well thought out in his actions. So I have no doubt his mental progression toward landing the target of devotion was no different.
In fact, it was probably very spiritually led whenever he took on the practice. You see, Edwards’ mind was both scientific and spiritual. As such, he likely was experimental in his quest for discipleship. Testing one’s thoughts and seeking divinely guided understanding is an act of faith we all would be well to mimic.
Testing one’s thoughts and seeking divinely guided understanding is an act of faith we all would be well to mimic. Click To TweetFor it is how we learn, understand, and grow. It’s how we might find a step that’s in sync with God. And it’s how we might cultivate a heartbeat that is in rhythm with God’s own.
When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. – 1 Corinthians 13:11 NLT