February 10, 2026 WWJWMTD by Steve, the son of John (2SoJ)
Final Parts From blog, Corner Stone Christian Fellowship
Timothy writes:
2. You Can’t Command Virtue, But You Can Spark Curiosity
| The most profound transformations are not achieved through sheer willpower alone, but through the Holy Spirit’s power renewing our minds. The journey begins with a deep curiosity to know and understand God’s better way—a pursuit of divine wisdom over human understanding. |
· The Renewing of the Mind: Lasting change is not behavior modification, but intellectual and spiritual transformation. We become what we continually expose our minds to.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” — Romans 12:2
· Trusting God’s Wisdom: The “curiosity” of the early Christian was not about questioning God, but about acknowledging that His wisdom surpasses their own, leading them to search the Scriptures.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” — Proverbs 3:5-6
| This reframing holds a powerful lesson for our own internal struggles. The grim war for self-control, so often framed by the tyrannical command “I must,” can be transformed into a curious investigation of “I wonder.” When we become apologists for our own best selves, using persuasion and discovery rather than brute force, our internal resistance softens. We shift from being a taskmaster demanding obedience to an explorer charting a new way of living. Curiosity, as the ancients knew, is a far more sustainable fuel for the journey than sheer, teeth-gritting willpower. |
| Genuine, lasting change is seldom forged in the crucible of willpower alone; it is cultivated in the fertile ground of inquiry and discovery. Early Christian apologists understood that you can reach people most effectively when you “pique their curiosity,” even if their initial motive is simply to prove you wrong. |
| Rather than merely demanding that Roman emperors stop their persecutions, the 2nd-century writer Athenagoras appealed directly to their intellectual pride, asking them to apply their “desire of knowledge and love of truth to the examination of our doctrine also.” He did not command them to obey; he invited them to investigate. |
| Similarly, Justin Martyr, in his defense of Christianity, didn’t just present it as a new set of rules. He framed it as the fulfillment of the great philosophical quest for truth that the Greco-Roman world already revered—a quest that even Socrates had begun. He argued that Christ completed what the greatest minds had only started. |
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| 3. To Change Your Life, Redefine Your Values
A key to early Christian self-mastery was a profound act of cognitive reframing. They adopted a new way to measure what was valuable, fundamentally redefining success and failure. What the Roman world called glory—power, wealth, pleasure—they identified as a spiritual danger. What the world called failure—persecution, humility, poverty—they saw as the path to true glory. |
| This new value system provided an incredibly stable foundation for their actions. It insulated them from both worldly temptations and worldly threats. If persecution is seen as an opportunity for ultimate victory, the threat of persecution loses its power. If wealth is seen as a potential snare, the temptation of greed is disarmed. Athenagoras demonstrated this keen awareness of how language shapes reality when he argued against the absurdity of judging Christians based on a name alone, rather than their actual deeds. |
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| This redefinition is not just an intellectual exercise but a pre-emptive strike against temptation. By reframing wealth as a “spiritual danger,” the early Christian was not just resisting greed; they were dismantling the very logic that made greed seem appealing in the first place. This is a prime example of self-regulation: to win the battle before it even begins by choosing the battlefield and defining the terms of engagement. It is the deepest form of self-control: to choose the lens through which you see the world, and in doing so, to define what has power over you. |
| The early Christians didn’t just resist the world’s vices; they upended its very definition of success, honor, and blessing. The values of the Kingdom of God are often an inversion of the values of man. |
· The Upside-Down Kingdom: Jesus’ teaching turns the world’s hierarchy on its head, defining true blessing not in terms of wealth or status, but in humility and spiritual need.
o “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven… — Matthew 5:3
o Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” — Matthew 5:10 (The Beatitudes)
· The Contempt of Worldly Pride: The Apostles explicitly warned against adopting the value system of the secular age, insisting that what the world prizes is transient and foolish in God’s eyes.
o “For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” — 1 John 2:16-17
o “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness’…” — 1 Corinthians 3:19
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What would Jesus want me to do?
Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com
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