Habits can be good or bad. They can be formed by constant work or by addiction. They can be used for your benefit or your downfall. They can bring God glory or shame. A habit is defined as:
A settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.
A habit is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously. The American Journal of Psychology defines a "habit, from the standpoint of psychology, [as] a more or less fixed way of thinking, willing, or feeling acquired through previous repetition of a mental experience." Wikipedia
In my life I both strive towards good habits and fight the bad ones. It is such an oxymoron that good habits are so hard to make, yet bad habits are so hard to get rid of. I am working toward changing my health habits. This has been an ongoing thing that is spurred by my desire to lose weight and feel better, but it is also something I need to do as a general lifestyle change.
Over the years I developed the habit of indulging in rich, sweet foods. I have never needed salty, although the occasional chip or fry tastes good. My desire leans towards sweets. Ice cream, cakes, cookies, muffins, etc. all are huge temptations to my taste buds. If I could have ‘just one’ it would probably be fine, but I find that I have made the habit to keep saying ‘just one more’. I am a great liar to myself. For someone who values TRUTH (I would not lie to another person purposely) this was a hard thought to acknowledge. Why can I not be truthful to myself? Why do I make excuses and allowances? I once heard the statement “Just one is one too many AND one more is never enough!” Let that sink in….
My hubby often says sugar is good for him because it makes him happy. Happy people are healthier than sad, bitter people. While I see his point, for me it can make me physically ill. Mix it with wheat and I have a recipe for migraines, skin rashes, a pounding heart and tummy troubles. AND YET… time and time again I eat it. What a hard habit to break! I know what I need to do is avoid it at all costs but like the apostle Paul said in Romans 7,
15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
Did you get that? Giving into bad habits is sin if you know to do better. Not because the sugar, wheat, or other thing is necessarily bad but rather because we are allowing something else to rule our bodies besides Jesus. We are giving into fleshly desires that overtake our good common sense.
James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
On the other hand, a good habit that does honor Jesus can be a lifelong blessing. The saying “In the Morning when I rise give me Jesus” comes from the simple habit of seeking CHRIST each day. Seeking his face early and consistently. What does it mean to seek him? It means to look for him in his word (scripture). It means to honor him with prayer which is not just asking God for things. Prayer is an opportunity to be grateful. It is a time to Praise! It is a time to share the burdens of our hearts. If you are always just asking for something, prayer loses the focus of building a relationship with Jesus.
Going back to other good habits that I have tried to form, eating better ‘healthy’ foods. I have worked to make a change in my meals to a more whole foods diet with less processed junk. Do I always succeed? No, but I still try! Just this year I switched to the habit of putting olive oil and spices on my salad instead of ranch dressing. The benefit is that my healthy cholesterol went up enough to register for the first time ever.
My current habit that I am trying to establish is to exercise just 10 min a day. You see I KNOW if I say I will exercise 30 min or an hour, I won’t do it! I would be lying to myself again. However as much as I hate it, I can surely do 10 minutes of anything and complete it. This morning the little kids and I jumped on the trampoline for 5 minutes, then took a 6-minute walk down our road. Not long, but it got their wiggles out and helped me achieve my goal.
Another important reason to conquer my flesh and bad habits is that I am passing them onto my kids. They love junk food because I have served it. They desire to watch movies and use the IPAD much more than I want, because I often give in when I’m tired. They have made the bad habit to pout when they don’t get their way and often must spend part of their time making laps around the house to ‘think about obeying’ (two laps doesn’t hurt them, but gives them time to clear their heads and decide they really did want to listen). I am training them to hear my voice so that as they become adults, they can hear God’s voice.
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Even tiny babies have habits that we have to work to train out of them. Millie had a few habits that were sweet, like sucking her middle and ring finger, kissing both of my cheeks and then my forehead, and taking pink blankie everywhere she went. She also had some unpleasant habits like going potty in her diaper (she was almost trained when she got sick and then the chemo messes were too much to try and train through). She had the habit of demanding that she chose which pullup to wear each time. It was obnoxious but we understood that it was some small thing she could control in a world that was out of her control. For awhile she developed the habit of screaming and crying most of the time. That was the first clue she was sick. No matter the age of the person we each have some habits that have formed. We need to make sure that our habits bring glory to GOD.
1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
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