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Have you ever made a New Year’s resolution? Of course you have. Have you ever failed to keep your New Year’s resolution? Of course you have! We have all failed to keep our resolutions. In fact, we fail to keep many, if not most, of our resolutions. Why is it so hard to change our patterns of behavior and to keep them changed?

According to psychologist Roy Baumeister (http://m.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/01/the-willpower-trick/) the answer is really quite simple – the will is weak. That sounds like bad news for those of us hoping for change. But hang on…it gets worse. Baumeister’s studies also indicate that the will can’t be strengthened by any significant, enduring amount.

Agree and disagree

I agree with Baumeister’s first assertion that the will is weak (but I disagree with his second assertion that it cannot be strengthened; more on that later). To use biblical terminology – “the spirit is willing, but the flesh/body is weak.” Every single one of us can relate to the Apostle Paul’s agonizing autobiographical account, “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate… For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” (Romans 7:15, 19)

Why are we so vulnerable to failure?

According to Baumeister and other researchers, the neural “muscle” behind willpower is located in the prefontal cortex of the brain, which also regulates emotion, blood pressure and blood sugar levels. Our minds are so feeble and overtaxed that even the slightest additional strain placed in our lives can precipitate self-control failure in the prefontal cortex. In fact, recent research indicates that stress of any kind can actually shrink the size of the prefrontal cortex (http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/10/10093725-all-that-stress-is-shrinking-your-brain-new-study-finds). Consider the following description by Jonah Lehrer of an experiment conducted by Baba Shiv, a behavioral economist from Stanford University.

“[Shiv] recruited several dozen undergraduates and divided them into two groups. One group was given a two-digit number to remember, while the second group was given a seven-digit number. Then, they were told to walk down the hall, where they were presented with two different snack options: a slice of chocolate cake or a bowl of fruit salad. Here’s where the results get weird. The students with seven digits to remember were nearly twice as likely to choose the cake as students given two digits. The reason, according to Shiv, is that all those extra numbers took up valuable space in the brain — they were a “cognitive load” — making it that much harder to resist a decadent dessert. In other words, willpower is so weak, and the conscious mind is so overtaxed, that all it takes is five extra bits of information before it becomes impossible for the brain to resist a piece of cake. This helps explain why, after a long day at the office, we’re more likely to indulge in a pint of Häagen-Dazs. (In fact, one study by researchers at the University of Michigan found that just walking down a crowded city street was enough to reduce measures of self-control.) A tired brain, preoccupied with its problems and run down by the world, is going to struggle to resist what it wants, even when what it wants isn’t what we need.”

The Apostle Paul calls this the “flesh” – our innate desire, intertwined with our physical bodies, to live independently from God, and as a result, to self-destruct. “Flesh” is inherent weakness. No matter how great its promises, because it depends on itself alone, apart from God, it will repeatedly fail and disappoint. You can count on it. In other words, “I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.” (Romans 7:21)

Is There No Hope?!

A team of highly renowned willpower researchers, including Baumeister, have stumbled upon practice #1 for the successful exercise of will. Their research led them to the conclusion that some people succeed in saying no to temptation, not because they have stronger wills, but simply because they avoid temptation. I wonder how many research dollars were required to figure that one out?! Again in the words of Lehrer,

“These findings are incredibly revealing, as they document the banal secret of willpower. It’s not that these people have immaculate wills, able to stare down tempting calories. Instead, they are able to intelligently steer clear of situations that trigger problematic desires. They don’t resist temptation — they avoid it entirely. While unsuccessful dieters try to not eat the ice cream in their freezer, thus quickly exhausting their limited willpower resources, those high in self-control refuse to even walk down the ice cream aisle in the supermarket.”

The Apostle Paul chose revelation over research. As a result, his report reads more concisely, “…make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” (Romans 13:14)

Yet another team of researchers discovered practice #2 for successful temptation avoidance, exercise of willpower, and resolution keeping – actively think about something else. Or as Walter Mischel labeled the practice, the “strategic allocation of attention.” Avoid negative behavior and thoughts by actively replacing them with constructive behavior and thoughts. Again, Paul said it quicker and at less cost, “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth.” (Colossians 3:2)

Unfortunately for Baumeister, his fellow researchers and for all of their disciples, they has missed out on the most important element in the exercise of will. And this is where I find myself in disagreement with him and his colleagues. Willpower can in fact be strengthened when the above two practices are pursued in submission to, dependence upon, and for the glory of God through the Holy Spirit. This is practice #3. It demands a realistic assessment of self. The flesh can never be strengthened. It must be ignored, avoided, replaced and ultimately eradicated. But there is more to me as a Christian than flesh. My spirit has come to life by being united with the Spirit of God. My body and brain remain weak and unreliable, but when energized by the Spirit of God, I can accomplish what secular research has concluded is highly improbable, if not impossible. That is, even when faced with unavoidable temptations and attacks on my will, I can consistently say “No” to what is destructive and “Yes” to what is good.

And so I conclude with this final command and words of hope from Paul, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

Resolved: To keep God’s resolutions for me, by His power and for His glory.

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