The old saying does something like this, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, each time expecting a different result.”

Even with that definition and understanding I still see people doing the same actions repeatedly. Either they repeat their own actions, or they do what everyone else is doing. Very few people who I encounter seem interested in results.

Almost weekly I have a conversation with someone who tells me how tired they are right now. Usually, that is followed by an explanation of how busy they have been lately. The end result of their actions is exhaustion. Here is where it gets interesting to me. Even though their life is draining every ounce of energy out of them, they do nothing to change it. Then somewhere in the not so distant future, they will be tired again because they have been so busy. And on and on it goes, week after week and month after month. I always want to ask them directly, “How long are you going to run on this treadmill before you realize it is leading nowhere?”

It gets worse, we then look out our window and watch our neighbor, co-workers, and the people we admire also running on the treadmill. We guess that must be the best way to live and we repeat the same pattern. Somehow, we never notice their marriages falling apart, children who are far from God, and their emotional wreckage.

People all around us, and quite possibly that person is you, are exhausted, burnt out, struggling in their marriage, fighting with their kids, feeling lonely, and living with a host of other issues. Yet, no one seems to adjust their behavior.

If you want a better life, a life more like Jesus, then you are going to have to stop doing the same old things. If you are not happy with your spiritual life, emotional health or family dynamics then the solution is not found in repeating the same weekly routines over and over again.

The life of faith calls us to a different type of thinking and action. Paul told the Church in Rome that they needed a renewing of their mind that would lead to different action. Only then would they see a different result.

Before you spend this day mindlessly doing the same things would you take a few minutes and ask, “Is this getting the results I desire in my life?” Before you plan another weekend would you ask, “Will my actions these few days get the results I desire?” Before you start next week would you ask yourself, “Why I am I doing the same things every week?”

I believe that Jesus life looked nothing like the culture of his time. Quite possibly God is calling your life to look more like his than anyone else.