“A youngster’s heart is filled with foolishness, but physical discipline will drive it far away.” (Proverbs 22:15 NLT)
Habits form our lives and, far too often, interrupt or even block our progress as children of God. Why is that? One reason is we’re too quick to believe we can’t change negative or harmful habits. We grow comfortable with our habits, as destructive as they may be, because we learn to rationalize their existence. We can even dupe ourselves into believing that God is somehow okay with them, when He clearly is not. There comes a point where we begin to believe we just don’t have what it takes to change.
And the truth is, we don’t! I have a friend who is an alcoholic. They are literally killing themselves, but they’ve come to believe they have made some kind of agreement with the Lord that it’s okay. It’s not, but Satan has them believing they no longer have to struggle with their inevitable fate. And the truth is, that’s the lie Satan’s using to cripple and kill the lives of millions of believers.
Lust, greed, gossip, pornography, all manner of immorality and debauchery is being carried on by those who profess the name of Jesus, which is horrifying, but the greater tragedy is, they like their sin too much to stop it. For most it’s not a question of can’t but won’t! We sing in church on Sunday: “OUR GOD CAN!” But nullify the truth of those powerful words by not even giving our sin a second notice.
Am I somehow suggesting sinful, destructive habits are easy to break? No, but I am saying it is certainly possible to break them! But how? Dr. Robert Schuller was fond of saying: “Inch by inch anything’s a cinch.” As much as someone may love steak, or salad, or lobster, or whatever it is, it’s more satisfying and better for your digestive system if you eat it one small bite at a time.
To believe we’re going to stop a lust or gossip problem we’ve had for 25 years in a day may not be realistic, but I can assure you it will never stop until we take the first step. But how do we do that?
By God’s grace and with His help you can do anything. My mom and dad both smoked and drank for years. One day my dad decided to stop, and he did. He was done with both immediately. My mom, on the other hand, struggled for years. What’s my point? Different people, different results. However, there came a point even in my mom’s life when she’d had enough.
The heart surgeon told her that if she didn’t have the surgery, she would die. But then he said: “Even if I do the surgery, if you don’t stop smoking, you’ll still die. You must decide whether you want to live or die!” That’s ultimately the decision we must make. Do we want to live or die spiritually? Do we want to be someone who merely professes a relationship with Jesus or someone who demonstrates His life and love through our very beings?
Talk is cheap. We can know the right answers to all the right questions and still miss heaven. May I be honest? Who or what owns your heart? If you love your sin more than your Savior, you’re not heading to heaven. The Lord demands first place. To believe we can “love Jesus,” yet live anyway we choose is to believe a lie from the pit of hell.
Jesus said in Luke 9:23: “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow Me. If you try to hang on to your life (your sinful habits), you will lose it. But if you give up your life (your sinful habits) for My sake, your will save it.”
We’ll look at this more closely in tomorrow’s post.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 