Faith is believing God

Romans 1:5 says ... "Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith."
As I was reading this verse late last night the relationship between faith and obedience really struck home. It is travelling the road of obedience, but the door way to the road is the doorway of faith. And what is faith? Faith is believing God. So the verse could be written "... to the obedience that comes from believing God."
Romans 12:2 says "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." That is what we believe is critical to what we do. Action follows our true beliefs.
So often the battle is not what we do, but what we truly believe.
If I want to change that bad habit I have to change what I really believe. Bad habits are the natural result of believing that the bad habit will bring a benefit. Good habits are the result of believing that the good action is truly the better thing to do.
So next time you do something you are not happy about, consider what belief stands behind that action, and then ask God to 'transform your thinking'.