Kiev,
Ukraine
While I
was in University, not too long ago, I studied Communications with an
emphasis on General Speech. In being a Communications student, you
tend to focus a majority of your time to the study of theories. Out
of all the theories I studied, Cognitive Dissonance
ranks at the top of my list.
Cognitions–
your beliefs and opinions
Dissonance–
inconsistency between attitudes and behaviors
Cognitive
Dissonance is basically
“the feeling of uncomfortable tension which comes from holding two
conflicting thoughts in the mind at the same time.� -Festinger
This
theory of Cognitive
Dissonance popped
into my head about 2 weeks ago. I guess I had forgotten how much I
loved it. I did some research to jog my memory on the subject and
instantly my mind shot to Romans 7:14-25:
14
We
know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave
to sin. 15
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but
what I hate I do. 16
And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
17
As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in
me. 18
For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my
sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot
carry it out. 19
For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to
do “this I keep on doing. 20
Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it,
but it is sin living in me that does it.
21
So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right
there with me. 22
For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23
but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my
mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is
subject to death? 25
Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So
then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful
nature a slave to the law of sin.
Let’s
break this down:
This
whole passage is talking about the law. The law was imputed so we
could know what sin was and repent. Verse 7 says, “for I would not
have known what sin was had it not been for the law.� The law was
intended to do good but, as we see at the beginning of chapter 8,
“For
what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the
flesh, God
did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a
sin offering.� And, we see in verse 4 of chapter 7, we “died to
the law through the body of Christ.�
Okay,
so throughout this passage we see Paul’s contradictory statements- we
see the
cognitive
dissonance
he is experiencing. He wants to do good, but can’t seem to do so. He
doesn’t want to do evil/ sin, but seems like that’s the trap he is
continually falling into. He wants one thing, but does other. He
believes something, but can’t seem to follow through with that
belief.
This
dissonance
can be reduced by focusing on the first part of the last verse
of this passage, “Thanks
be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord.� It
is all because of the Lord that we are no longer held under the law.
Experiencing
cognitive
dissonance
happens quite a bit in the Christian life. We are constantly battling
our flesh/ fleshly desires. We strive to do one thing, but sometimes
fall short of the follow through. This could lead to guilt, shame, or
disappointment, while simultaneously trying to find grace and
forgiveness in it all.
We
need only to remember that JESUS
CHRIST
is the only answer in reducing that dissonance.
This photo just makes me look smart…. i like it
