“Bad Habits are Hard to Break”


BIBLE READING: Nehemiah 11-13; Psalm 126
DISCUSSION                                     
                Why is it so hard to break bad habits?  We understand that these habits are bad for us, yet we continue to do them.  Is it because of negative peer pressure that we continue to fail?  Maybe it is just ingrained in our DNA to keep falling into its trap?  Maybe it is simple selfishness?  Isn’t that more of a reasonable answer?  We might continually look for excuses that have nothing to do with personal responsibility, yet none of them hold any weight.  As we go back to the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah has left Jerusalem after the completion of the wall to go back to work for King Artaxerxes.  While there the people of Jerusalem fall right back into the same bad habit that got them into the captivity in the first place.  They stopped honoring the Sabbath day by doing business, the priesthood had again become stuck in corruption and some of the men had found wives and bore children from among the pagan nations.  Nehemiah must go back to Jerusalem and re-educate all the people on why they went to captivity and why the city was destroyed in the first place.  They could have blamed their situation, or the genetic makeup (if they had known what that was), but it was all about selfishness.  Self seems to have been and continues to be the root of the problem of sin doesn’t it?  Maybe that is why Christ was so adamant to His followers about emptying ourselves of self, and filling up with Him.  Dying to self yet living because of His Spirit that lives within us.  Taking up our cross and following Him.  Bad habits are just that, habits that are bad.  Yet those bad habits are made to be broken; for us to do so we must be honest with ourselves as to why we continue to do them.  After we take responsibility for our actions, we can then begin the process of becoming that “living sacrifice” of Romans 12.  Then we can begin to “transform” ourselves by the renewing of our mind.  If we fix the root of the problem, we then can make those bad habits a thing of the past.
Prayer Requests:___________________________________________________________________________________

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday - October 4, 2016

Woodlawn Family Bible Study TUESDAY BIBLE READING:    Genesis 32:22-32 Do you want to be blessed? That sounds like a rhetorical question, doesn’t it? Who doesn’t want to be blessed? I guess it really depends on your definition of “blessed.” Many people desire blessings that will make them wealthy or, perhaps, material goods. However, being blessed is not limited to those physical things. In fact, sometimes we can be blessed in the most unusual ways. For instance, in Genesis 32:26, we find Jacob wrestling with what we often call an angel. Within the story, Jacob is overtaking the angel and holding him down; refusing to let go until the angel gives him a blessing. The angel obliges Jacob, but not in the way he might have imagined. The angel changed his name from “Jacob” to “Israel,” but he also did something else. He put Jacob’s hip joint out of socket, causing him much pain and difficulty walking. In part, his blessing had to do with him walking with a limp. How is tha...
Read more

“Examples”

BIBLE READING: Mark 13- Luke 1 DISCUSSION                                                                                   This past week we have read of some great examples in the bible.   We read in Mark 13 about us being ready and being prepared for when Jesus returns.   We need to all stay awake!   In Mark 14 we read of one action having such an impact.   How this woman gave her very best to Jesus because of her love for Him.   In Mark 15 we read of Pontius Pilate and his desire to keep his power.   He loved his power and did not want to give it up even if that meant sending an inno...
Read more

Monday

BIBLE READING : Job 3. 1-26 “I wish I had never been born,” Job said to his friends. “I wish that my birthday was just wiped off of the calendar as though it never happened.” Who could blame him? The loss that he had endured in mere moments had been catastrophic. Job had experienced a wonderful life until that day, when all he had known changed. I know that many people have endured tragic losses, but Job’s defeat seems unfathomable. Isn’t it ironic that, although Job’s comments brought him so much pain, they can bring us so much joy? My mother always taught me that, no matter how bad I may think things are, someone else always is suffering more than I am. Not only does that help us to feel that we are not alone in our depression, but it gives us that hope for what is to come. Job’s story helps us to learn to appreciate the blessings that we have today! Job was not in control of his circumstances, but he was in control of his reaction to those circumstances. When Job was hurtin...
Read more