The anterior mid-cingulate cortex (aMCC) is a part of the brain that grows when you do something you don’t want to do. It can be something as small as getting out of bed to something big like taking on a new project at work or a new workout program. The aMCC is associated with willpower and self-discipline. This means the more you put a glass in the sink when you don’t want to, the more your willpower will grow. In turn, this means the easier it is to do things or motivate yourself to do anything that you don’t want to do. The aMCC is like a muscle. It grows or shrinks depending on how often it is used. This also means the more you do things you do not want to, the stronger your willpower and self-discipline grows.
This is why it’s easier for an addict to avoid an addiction as time goes on. They are doing something they don’t want to, and their willpower is growing. This is the same for us as we avoid sin or study our Bibles more. The more we do it the easier it becomes. The key to it all is that you have to do it. You have to do that thing you don’t want to. You must exercise self-discipline.
We live in such a “do as you please” culture today. The world around us is all about doing what makes you happy. It also promotes the idea that we cannot help some things. I remember a friend I had growing up. He was crazy and mischievous. He lacked a filter and spoke quite rudely, often. People would say, “Eh, that is just how he is.” I remember getting so aggravated and talking to myself with an indignant tone saying, “No! That is not how he is, and that is not acceptable.” I spoke that concept out loud and often to him and them. The reason I spoke up was because it could be helped with some self-discipline. All they were doing was enabling bad behavior.
All the cultural mindsets around us do the same thing. Paul says, “But I discipline my body.” (1 Corinthians 9:26) God clarifies with this phrase that our actions can be helped, and we can discipline ourselves to be better. We do not have to walk around like crazed ravenous animals seeking and meeting just our fleshly needs. We can be better. The more we exercise self-discipline the easier it becomes. How do you discipline yourself?
-Steve Johnson
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