Habits: Replacing the old with the new
Just a quick thought on habits…
Can you stop an old habit without creating a new, positive one? I find it almost impossible.
Eph 4:20-25 -
“But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness 25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.”
“But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness 25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.”
Notice: we first take off old, then we put on the new. We don’t try to stop an old habit and then not replace it. That is a recipe for inviting the old habit back! Example from text: Stop lying, and learn to tell the truth.
Identify sin, and replace that behavior with new, God-glorifying behavior. That’s practical, and will probably bring progress where we found failure before in dealing with habits.
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- Habits: Moving closer or further from God
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