Habits

FIRST,  YOU FORM A HABIT,

THEN, THE HABIT FORMS YOU.

1 JN 3:18-22, "Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We shall know by this that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before Him, in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight."

This scripture teaches that a Christian's heart may condemn him, at times, when he is doing the will of God. How can this be? Doesn't God control our feelings? No, He does not. Whether a person is a Christian or not, his feelings are determined by his habits, or by what the Bible calls his "flesh." The scripture teaches that we do not automatically know right from wrong when we become Christians. Our senses have to be trained.

HEB 5:14, "But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil."

We are creatures of habit. God made us that way. People who have trouble forming habits are called retarded. When you learn any skill, you have simply gained a habit. We may think more about bad habits, but there are many good habits too. A person's habits determine what "feels right" to him. If anything is new to us, it feels uncomfortable and strange.

Groups of people have habits also. They may be called customs or traditions. Even the attitudes we have are simply habits of thinking.

There is a tendency within man to want to stay with the same old habits, customs, traditions, and attitudes he has. He will avoid new challenges because he must get out of his "comfort zone" to learn new skills. He sees the total of his habits and traditions as "him," but is it? How did you form your habits? Did you form them on purpose? We do form many of them on purpose. We learn many skills because we made up our minds to do it. But many habits were formed without any planning on our part.

Much of the Bible is aimed at getting us to quit measuring right and wrong by our feelings and to start measuring it by the will of God. The Bible is filled with accounts of people rejecting the Word of God because it didn't fit their tradition. The Jews rejected the Word made flesh, Jesus, because he didn't fit their teaching and tradition.

MAR 7:6-13, "And He said to them, 'Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.' Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.' He was also saying to them, 'You nicely set aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition..{thus} invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that."

They evaluated Jesus according to their tradition. What they needed to do was to examine their tradition according to Jesus. That is also what we need to do, whether we are a Christian or not. If we do not control our habits and tradition, we will be slaves to them.

COL 2:8, "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ."

I remind you, that not all habits and customs are bad. Paul also urged the people to continue the practice of good traditions.

2 THES 3:6, "Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep aloof from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us."

All people need to constantly examine their practices, habits, traditions, customs, and attitudes to see if they are what Jesus wants them to do. We need to hold on to what is really good, shun the bad or unprofitable, and work to learn the new skills and traits that Jesus would have us learn.

ROM 12:2, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

Some teach that God will just judge us by whether we are doing what we think is right. This is not true. I repeat, what "feels right" to you is determined by your habits, not by what is right.

PRO 21:2, "Every man's way is right in his own eyes, But the Lord weighs the hearts."

Those who only follow their natural desires and habits (instincts) are called unreasoning animals.

2 PET 2:10-13, "...Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties, whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord. But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime...."

Is your heart set on pleasing God. If it is, you will be willing to learn His definition of right and wrong, and to let Him reform you. We are to be a new creation. That means forming new habits, attitudes, customs and traditions.

2 COR 5:17, "Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

The scripture calls the sum total of our habits, desires, and traditions the "world."

1 JN 2:15-17, "Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever."

JAM 4:1-4, "What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."

How do we get free from old habits? The best way is by forming new ones to replace them. Jesus will help us become truly free.

JOHN 8:31-34, "Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered Him, "We are Abraham's offspring, and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, 'You shall become free'?" Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin."

COL 2:20-23, "If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch! (which all refer to things destined to perish with the using) - in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, {but are} of no value against fleshly indulgence."

COL 3:1-10, "If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.  Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is on account of these things that the wrath of God will come, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.  Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him."

Many people think no one can really change. But all of the habits we now have had to be learned in the first place. They probably are thinking in terms of "unlearning" a habit. This would be very hard to do. Instead of trying to break a bad habit, we should be trying to form good ones. Instead of trying to quit smoking, a person should learn to be a non-smoker. By the way, it was much harder to learn the habit of smoking than to learn the habit of not smoking. When a person starts smoking his whole body rebelled against it, but he went on to learn how to smoke through determination (misguided of course). Once the habit was then formed, it dictated his actions and thoughts. Any person that had the determination to learn the habit of smoking can, through determination, learn the habit of not smoking. After all, no one was born being a smoker, so all we have to do is go back to the habits we one had of being a non-smoker. I know - it's easier said than done, but the point is that you can be a non-smoker because you already showed you could learn something harder than that - being a smoker.

This scripture urges us to change habits we find to be bad, and to become accustomed to (form habits of) doing good.

JER 13:23, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good Who are accustomed to doing evil."

God wants people to stop being controlled by habits of the flesh, and to start controlling the flesh. Replace bad habits with good ones.

ROM 6:1-23, "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!  Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

When we let habits control us, we have a hard time hearing anything that goes against them.

HEB 5:11-14, "Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil."

HEB 6:1, "Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,"

We are described as immature when we are controlled by our habits. Advertisers study the habits and attitudes of people so they can appeal to them. The whole advertising system is based on people following their customs, habits, and attitudes. They know that once a new customer is accustomed to using their product, they will not have to do much to keep him. That's why most of the advertising is aimed at new customers - not current ones.

2 PET 2:18-22, "For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. For if after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "A dog returns to its own vomit," and, "A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire."

We become free of the manipulators when we take control of, and responsibility for, our actions.

MAT 15:19-20, "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man;..."

Our hearts and desires are determined by the habits we have formed, and like I said, they will go on to form our actions. That's why Jesus said we must be born again. Instead of being controlled by the desires of the flesh, we need to be controlled by the Spirit of God. As long as we are controlled by the flesh, we cannot even see (understand) the kingdom of God. God cannot be our king if our flesh is.

JOHN 3:3-12, "Jesus answered and said to him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' Nicodemus said to Him, 'How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?' Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.' Nicodemus answered and said to Him, 'How can these things be?' Jesus answered and said to him, 'Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak that which we know, and bear witness of that which we have seen; and you do not receive our witness. If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how shall you believe if I tell you heavenly things?"

Whenever a person becomes a Christian and has made up his mind to follow Christ, there is a battle within him. His old habits are not automatically changed, and will still try to control his actions. The law pointed out that man was not following God. We get uneasy when it appears that some of our habits need to be changed. When the Word of God points out that some of our habits are bad, our feelings will rebel against the desire to follow Christ. The law was given to magnify the effects of sin and show the necessity of getting rid of it.

ROM 7:7-25, "What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, 'You shall not covet.' But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. And I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive, and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me. So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. For we know that the Law is spiritual; but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not wish to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that it is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which indwells me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish. But if I am doing the very thing I do not wish, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin."

What is the answer? Are we always to have this battle going on within us? No, as we continue to do the right things and to form good habits, doing good will begin feeling natural. But we should never come to the place we stop reviewing our actions and habits to make sure they do not control us - but we control them and make them subject to the Word and Will of God.

ROM 8:1-17, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God {did:} sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and {as an offering} for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able {to do so}; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you. So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh - for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him."

It's not always easy to control our actions, to change habits, and to follow Christ - but it will be worth it all.

ROM 8:18-31, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for {our} adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?"

The "natural" man is selfish, follows what he thinks is right for him, and does not go out of his way to improve himself. He rebels against anything he thinks is telling him what to do. But at the same time he will form all kinds of habits that do control him. He thinks he is free when, in fact, he is a slave to his desires.

1 COR 2:11-16, "For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ."

The Bible describes those who are controlled by their flesh and habits as "carnal."

1 CO 3:1-3, "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?"

Whenever the works of the flesh are present, they reveal we are being controlled by the desires and habits of the flesh.

GAL 5:16-24, "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh....Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."

In summation, don't let your habits dictate your actions and prevent you from growing. As long as we judge things by our feelings, we are simply controlled by our habits. Let God help you form new better habits and to make a better life for you.

PRO 16:1-3, "The plans of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the Lord weighs the motives. commit your works to the Lord, And your plans will be established."

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