1/2 Learning; 1/2 Unlearning

Years ago I read Leo Buscaglia and was shocked by his words that unlearning was as important as  learning.  I had learned a lot of things that needed to be deleted in my brain, for instance:

• be afraid, be very afraid!
• you can't do that!
• who do you think you are?

• this is the way we've always done it
• God is angry at you
• don't take risks, be safe
• don't be silly
• trust is risky business

You can see that I've been on a very long UNLEARNING curve. . . I'm not there yet, but I'm gaining ground!
I remember the first time I viewed a film about paradigm shifts - it blew my mind!  How do I get out of this box that I've built for myself?  God was turning on the light all along, do I love Him or what?!  He is so patient with me.

Today I was reading "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day" and once again I was blasted out of my seat by Batterson reminding me of the story told of Jesus healing the crippled man by the pool ~

This man made an assumption that may have cost him thirty eight years!  He only had one category for healing.  He assumed, based on an ancient superstition, that he had to be the first one into the pool of Bethesda when the water was stirred in order to be healed.  In a sense, he was imprisoned by what he knew.  But Jesus uninstalled that mistaken belief with one sentence: "Stand up, pick up your sleeping mat, and walk!"   Now, here is what you need to see.  Jesus didn't just set this man free physically, He set him free cognitively.  Faith is unlearning the senseless worries and misguided beliefs that keep us captive.  It is far more complex than simply modifying behavior.  Faith involves synaptogenesis.  Faith is rewiring the human brain ~ Mark Batterson

Gerald looked at me and said - hey - he didn't have to go to the pool and I said - hey - he didn't need anyone to get him to get him there. . . Batterson goes on to say:

          Neurologically speaking, that is what we do when we study Scripture. 
         We are literally upgrading our minds by downloading the mind of Christ ~ mb

I have believed for a long time that the "washing of the Word" is a daily ritual that cleanses the mind, but reading Batterson's words made me realize that it's not just washed, but changed by the unlearning of stuff that doesn't need to be stuck in my brain - in it's place is the eternal, unchanging truth of God.  Now that's learning to let God be God.  I'm busy unlearning all the junk that Satan has put on me from early childhood and learning that:

God is Who He says He is
God can do what He says He can do
I am who God says I am
I can do all things through Christ
God's Word is alive and active in me   (Beth Moore's statements of faith)

Well all this to say, I'm a life-long student, a child in the Father's house and I will never arrive at a point in time when I know all that I need to know and I'll always be letting go what I don't need to know. 
 I want to stop whining about there being no one to get me to the pool and I want to stop thinking that the only way to be healed is by being in the pool!  I'm diving straight into the Word of God!  It's time for a change - not a political one, but a heart change.

"Change my heart O God, make is ever new.  Change my heart O God, may I be like You!"
Paulette