Be Not Conformed

There is no human power that I obtain that would give me the ability to walk away from the influences of the world. I am too weak for that. The influence of the world is bigger than I am and unfortunately it does not pick on someone its own size, but always bullies those below it. God is the only being stronger than the influence of the world. If I ritually connect myself with God on a daily basis, the chances of me succumbing to all the temptations around me greatly decrease. If I know my father is the King of England, I have no reason to steal for lack of money. If I know my father is the world's top expert in physiology and preventative medicine, I have no excuse for falling into an addictive habit that will destroy my body. However, this is only true if I am connected to my father.

Spending time daily in prayer and with the Word of God is one ritual that I am certain helps me look critically at what the world is offering. There was a time when I became a shopaholic because I was influenced by a shopaholic I was living with and did not recognize the poor decisions I was making because of it. More recently, I have been in the exact opposite situation where there was not enough money to be a shopaholic. Money was spent on what was necessary and if that did not satisfy the dopamine, pleasure and recreation would have to found in a simpler fashion, like baking bread on a stick over an open fire with friends. Lindstrom wrote that shoppers usually make their purchasing decision within 2.5 seconds. I have become more of a 2.5 minutes shopper or perhaps even more. Shopping trips take longer, but I am reminded by the Holy Spirit that these material things will not last and my money can be used in more productive places.

My daily time with God not only alters my shopping nature, but also my eating habits, although I think overcoming the influences of the world as it pertains to diet is even more challenging for me than the (non-existent) temptation to purchase Abercrombie & Fitch jeans. The more I surrender to God, the more He whispers to me of His non-conformist ways. Then I am faced with the decision to listen and allow myself to be influenced by Him alone or walk off whistling to myself in an effort to ignore Him and justify my decisions. The reality is that the long term reward of listening to God is more valuable than any decision I might ever attempt to justify on this earth.