Check Your Default Settings
We had an interesting conversation in Bible study this past Thursday about the role that our early religious or parental teachings have in our lives now.
One of our group's members said that even though we know better and even though we have been taught new things, when push comes to shove, we often return in our brains to those early teachings. They are our default settings. If you grew up with religion dominated by a preoccupation with sin, judgment, and guilt, you will go there, even if you have been surrounded by teachings about grace and love. If your parents planted all kinds of rejection notions in your young soul, you will go there, even if you know better. It is essential, in my opinion, to understand and check your default settings, not be surprised when they raise their ugly heads, and do your best to change them. They don't need to rule you. That's in part what Christianity means by being "born again."