Life Controlling Habits Series

LIFE CONTROLLING HABITS

Coming Clean Part 1

Gal. 5:1 2 Peter 2:19

Pastor Jeff seaman

Gal. 5:1 “ It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourself be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Today I want to speak to you about how to break free from life controlling habits. Turn with me to:

2 Peter 2:19 “ For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.” (NIV)

Listen to the verse in the (LB)

“For a man is a slave to what ever controls him.”

Many of the times when a message is brought about breaking free from habits, people minds immediately switch to…well this will be good one fro the drug addict and the alcoholic, they need a message like this.

And I agree they do need it, but 2 Peter goes so mush further than that and many who sit in this room today need to break free from something.

Peter says, “You are a slave to whatever has mastered you.”

Some people are a slave to work, some people are slave to jealousy, some people are slave to gossip, some people are slave to peoples opinions.

Today I want us to take an inventory of the NEGITIVE HABITS in our lives that need to be broken

There are several questions I would like to answer today.

The first question I want to answer is:

#1. HOW DO WE IDENTIFY A HABIT

A negative life controlling habit is something you find yourself doing even though it is destructive ether physical, mentally, emotionally, relationally or spiritually. Or you consistently do something you wish you wouldn’t do, but you find yourself doing it any way.

Listen to Paul’s words in Romans 7:15 (TCNT) twenty- century new testament.

“I do not understand my own actions for I am as far from habitually doing what I want to do that I find myself doing the very thing that I hate.” (TCNT)

The apostle Paul understood his dilemma he had good intentions.

You must understand good people are bound by bad habits

Some of us, reason in our minds, if we admit we have a habit than we are less than spiritual. Denial is not the way to deal with the problem.

Be honest, look at your life and like Paul, evaluate the thing you find yourself doing that you hate.

Take a moment and write down the habits in your life that you want to see victory in.

# 2. WHY ARE HABITS POWERFUL?

A. They slowly bind you.

Life controlling habits are formed at a snails pace almost unnoticeable.

Usually the person doesn’t even know they have formed a habit in there life. And if some one asks they, they say, “I can quit at any time. This isn’t a problem.”

Habits are like a cable. Each day we do something in a pattern, we intertwine one thread with another. As the threads are woven together a cable is formed. On any day, the threads we added were too small to be noticed. But, after many threads have been woven in, we find that together they have become an unbreakable cable.

So it is with habits, daily practices over time become habits that are unbreakable.

Bad habits are like comfortable beds: easy to get into, but hard to get out.

Church habits don’t just happen over night, they happen over a long period of time.

Ill. The person who smokes isn’t addicted on the first pack of cigarettes. It takes time after time smoke after smoke before the body becomes dependent upon nicotine

Habits are formed through willful behavior. The person has given in so many times to this thing that they are now addicted.

This is the reason a habits is so powerful, because it is so subtle.

B. Not only do they slowly bind… they break your will.

Habits will break your will. Once you have allowed a habit to control you the Bible says,

“That habit is your master.”

That habit breaks you down to the point where you don’t even try to resist because you feel like you cant break free.

The attitude becomes…

Why should I try, I always go back to doing it again. A habit will break your will to fight.

ILL.

I heard the story of how elephants are brought into captivity. Have you ever been to a circus and seen a giant elephant with a small rope around its ankle? Did you ever stop to think, hey, wait a minute? Physically speaking, there is no way that small little rope can hold back that giant elephant! And did you ever wonder how it happened that a giant elephant could be held in place by something that does not have the power to contain him.