Overcoming Bad Habits

Two men were mountain climbing, while one fell into a deep crevice. The other called down, “Are you OK?”“I think so,” came the distant response.“Anything broken?”“No.”“Are you hurt?”“No.”“Can you climb back up?”“Not yet.”“Why not?”“I’m still falling!”It might seem that your nasty habit, or besetting sin as Paul called it, is not that serious. But it’s not over yet. Wait ‘til you hit bottom! All controlling habits have a rough landing.According to Scripture, we are not to be brought under the power of anything, whether it be porn, tobacco, negative thinking, alcohol consumption, impure thoughts, unhealthy eating, disorganized living, or whatever it is that has been controlling you and holding you back spiritually for a length of time.How do you know if your problem is a habit? If it’s something you’ve tried to change, or recognized that you need to change, but haven’t, it’s a bad habit.I know that we all have bad habits. I’m reminded of the woman who wrote Ann Landers and told her that she was looking for a middle-aged man without bad habits. Ann wrote her back with the reply, “So am I.”Yes, we all have bad habits. But that’s not an excuse for giving in to them. Once we make the decision to quit working on defeating a habit God’s Word and/or the Holy Spirit has pointed out to us, we stop growing. Successful Christian living demands our giving attention to replacing the things that are holding us back with things that will move us forward.“Therefore….let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” – Hebrews 12:1