inside out

for as he calculates in his soul, so is he

Proverbs 23:7.

Who we are we are from the inside out. Jesus made this point in saying if we wash the inside of the cup, the outside will be clean. The point of arguments against legalism is that legalism is an attempt to move from the outside in.

Who you are is how you think. Do you wish you weren't a bitter man? Until you stop thinking like one, you won't stop. Wish you had more friends? Until you think of yourself first as a friend, why do you expect any different?

Until your thinking changes, no amount of training, no amount of gaining experience, will get you to your desired work. You've got to think like what you want to be. In recent years (decades?), in some lines of thinking in Christendom has focused on being rather than doing. (In some cases, there is a recognition that being leads to doing, others, sadly not). What we need is to see, and I believe Solomon and Jesus agree, is that we need to think first, then being follows, then the doing. Perhaps this is the reason Paul told us to take capture of every thought?