Does the name Pavlov ring a bell? Ivan Pavlov
proved that two stimuli repeatedly linked together can produce a conditioned response. He observed that
dogs would salivate when they were about to be fed. Pavlov rang a bell each
time prior to feeding the dogs so they would associate the bell-ringing with
dinner time. This conditioned them to salivate in the anticipation of being
fed because bell ringing and eating were linked together.
This explains why you
crave popcorn when you go to the movies. You’ve eaten popcorn so many times as
you’ve watched movies that popcorn munching and movie watching are connected
together. Now you cannot watch a movie without eating popcorn—and you’ll even
pay outrageous prices to get it!
Let’s suppose a dog named Fido was frequently
beaten by his master. The recurrent
blows conditioned him to associate
the stick with pain. One day a boy picked up a stick to play fetch with
him. When the dog sees him with stick in hand, a bell rings in his mind
and he runs away with his tail between his legs.
Now, replace
Fido’s name with your name, and replace
the stick with hurtful words. After someone has repeatedly mistreated you,
you’ve been conditioned to either fight back or run away. Husbands and wives
who continually argue and fight have
been conditioned to react to each other. They’ll say, “You always (fill in
the blanks)” or “You never…”
But God wants you to follow different
instructions: “Not returning evil for evil or insult for insult,
but giving a blessing instead” (1 Pet. 3:9). Don’t let abusive people
condition you to react in the wrong way. Instead of returning the insult, turn
it around and condition them to
soften their hearts with your blessings. It’s God’s way. www.makinglifecount.net
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