For most of us, the way we act is determined by the way we feel. So, for example, if we don’t like somebody, we’ll probably think it impossible to treat them nicely. But one of the great insights of the Behaviourist School of Psychology is that we can act our way into feeling rather than feel our way into acting. C.S. Lewis wrote, ‘Do not waste your time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbour. Act as if you did. As soon as you do this, you find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less’
It requires effort to change our way of thinking, but, as Jesus said: ‘If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.’