Controlling your habits
Gal 5:1
2 peter 2:19
Greeting- Good morning everyone, I am glad that you have joined us.
Gal 5:1- Look in Bible- “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
As a believer, Christ has set us free. HE HAS SET US FREE FROM SIN. HE HAS GIVEN US THE ABILITY TO LIVE A LIFE OF VICTORY. PAUL TELLS US…We are to stand firm and not let ourselves be bound up by things that Christ has set us free from.
We are with His strength and His guidance are not to allow the very things He set us free from to bind us up and control our life and cause us to be slaves to them.
Illustration- From Max Lucado
Chippie the parakeet never saw it coming, one second he was peacefully perched in his cage, the next he was sucked in, washed up, and blown over. The problem began when Chippie‘s owner decided to clean Chippie’s cage with a vacuum cleaner. She removed the attachment from the end of the hose and stuck it in the cage. The phone rang, and she turned to pick it up. She barely said hello, when sssopp! Chippie got sucked in. The bird owner gasped, put down the phone, turned off the vacuum, and opened the bag. There was chippie...still alive but stunned. Since the bird was covered with dust and soot, she grabbed him and raced to the bathroom turned on the faucet, and held chippie under the water. Then realizing that chippie was soaked and shivering, she did what any compassionate bird owner would do... She reached for the hair dryer and blasted the pet with hot air. Poor chippie never knew what hit him. A few days after the trauma, the reporter who initially wrote about the event contacted chippie’s owner to see how the bird was recovering. Well, she replied, “Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore- he just sits and stares”
Sucked up, washed up, and blown over... anyone ever feel like that?
That’s enough to steal anyone’s joy isn’t it?
This morning I want to talk about breaking free from life controlling habits.
YET ALLOWING THE LORD TO BLESS YOU WITH NEW AND POSITIVE HABITS THAT BUILD MATUROITY AND DISCIPLES US TO MORE OF THE IMAGE OF CHRIST.
One minute everything is good and the next thing, we are struggling with things that we cannot get control of in our lives.
If the truth be told… For most of us, we saw it coming…we just didn’t think it would happen to us.
2 Peter 2:19- say that…
“For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him”
Message bible paraphrased- says ‘a man is a slave to whatever controls him or her.”
Listen here how Peter tells us about the danger of allowing bad habits and things into our lives after the Lord has set us free.
2 Peter talks about the evil people that came against Peter and the ministry and then he describes those that have allowed bad habits to bind them from things the Lord has already set you and I free from-
Starting at verse 17 in 2 Peter to verse 22- Read from Bible
Many times when we hear a message about breaking free from habits, we picture drug addicts, the alcoholics, they need the message, but I will say lovingly - so do you, and so do I. WE ALL DO!
I agree, those people need Him, but 2 peter is much more than that, and many who sit in these pews today need to break free from something.
Peter says we are slaves to whatever has mastered you
Some here today are:
Slaves to work,
Slaves to jealousy, to anger,
Slave to gossip, to what people think instead of what God thinks,
Slave to inappropriate sexual behavior,
Slave to thinking they are better than anyone else.
Today , we need to take an inventory of the negatives habits in our lives,
To look at what the lord needs to take out of our lives!
Notice I said the lord, because immediately you can think of things you’ve tried to break, but continue to struggle with.
There are some questions I would like to answer.
Write these down! Questions to ask and answer today
I, How do we identify a habit
First let’s give it a definition
A negative life controlling habit is something you find yourself doing even though it is destructive either physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. Or you consistently do something you wish you wouldn’t do, but you find yourself doing it anyway
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.”
He understood that he had good intentions, but on his own, without the Holy Spirit, he will struggle.
You have to understand that good people can be bound up by bad habits
Some of us, especially long time Christians, find it hard to admit a habit, because we feel less spiritual.
Denial is not the way to deal with the problem
Take a moment; think about the habits in your life that you want to see victory in
It is a two sided problem to work on… (1) We have to allow the Lord to work on the bad and destructive habits in our life and allow Him to help us get rid of them. (2) We have to create and allow Him to nurture good positive habits in our lives.
We have to identify the problem before we can find a solution.
We have to realize that we cannot get rid of a controlling bad habit by our own strength.
II. Why are habits so powerful
Habits are formed at a snail pace, almost always unnoticed.
Usually the person doesn’t even know they formed a habit, and if someone asks- “I can quit anytime” “This is not a problem”
It is like a cable with fine threads of wire, each day threads are added until they are woven together to become an unbreakable cable.
Quote- bad habits are like comfortable beds, easy to get into, but hard to get out of.
Good church habits don’t happen overnight. They happen over a long period of time.
Smokers didn’t get addicted on one cigarette, it takes time. Smoke after smoke before their body becomes dependent upon nicotine.
Habits are formed through willful behavior. The person has given in many times and now they are addicted.
That’s why they are powerful- they start subtle and they break your will.
You don’t even want to resist anymore, because you feel you can’t break free’
Why should I try…I always go back to doing it”
Illustration-
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.
Here how it works- when trainers begin taming a baby elephant, they place a heavy chain around its ankle and stake the chain into the ground. Day after day, hour after hour, the baby elephant struggles to escape, but his efforts are in vain. He simply cannot break free from the grips of that powerful chain. Eventually he surrenders. He resolves in his mind that there is no possible way he can escape that chain. So he relinquishes forever the struggle to be free. Then when the elephant has given up, his masters replace that giant chain with the small little rope. If the elephant’s eyes were ever opened to the truth, he could break free at any moment. All it would take is one try, but since the elephant doesn’t know that, he doesn’t take a step in the right direction of freedom....And so after twenty, thirty years, the giant elephant remains held in bondage by something that really has no power to control him, except the power he chooses to give him.
Is that true for you today? “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free, stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery.”
Some of you this morning feel that right now- you don’t have the will to fight, because the habit has broken your will
Why are they powerful?...Because it can destroy your life
They destroy physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, relationally
Illustration-
In terms of war, a habit can be like a beach head. If a country was to go off to war to fight in a place where their enemy already occupies and controls that territory, they will try to establish a beach head. Troops will get out of boats and go up on the shore. They try to establish a point of safety, by putting up sand bags and hiding behind them... To the enemy with such power and control this act seems harmless. But once a beach head is established, the platoon now evades and establishes another and another, working their way up the shore inch by inch on ground that they did not have before.
As a person, a habit is just like a beach head, at first it seems very harmless, at any time in the early stages you could get rid of it yourself. In fact, you think you can get rid of it at anytime.
They take a stronger foothold, advancing a little more, taking a little more of your freedom.
How many marriages have been lost to habits?
How many families have been divided because of a habit?
How many jobs lost?
How many relationships destroyed?
Minds wasted?
How many deceases?
Recap-
Controlling habits are destructive; you lose control of your life
They are subtle and they become addictive
They are powerful and you cannot break them by yourselves
III. Solution- how can I come clean
1 cor. 10:13-
“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man, and God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but when you are tempted he will also provide a way out so you can stand up under it.”
Praise the lord!
God will let us know that in every situation, with every temptation, he can provide victory
Steps to victory...write these down
Admit you have a problem
Take responsibility that you have a problem
12 step program- “you cannot win until you know that you have a problem”
1 John 1:9- “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”
Healing starts with confession- many live in a state of denial, they never admit they have a problem, therefore they never break free.
Alcoholics who never admit they are alcoholics won’t find freedom
People filled who won’t admit their anger, won’t get freedom
Depend on God’s power to combat the bad habit
Phil. 4:13-
“I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me”
Isaiah-
“So do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God, I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Truth be told, Jesus can do more in a moment than doctors can do in a lifetime. Yet the Lord can use doctors.
The more you allow God to be a part of your life, the more you will see him working in you.
You have to stop doing this on your own,
Bad habits must be replaced by good ones`
Numbers 33:50-56- Look into Bible and read from sermon.
“On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho the Lord said to Moses, speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places. Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess. Distribute the land by lot, according to your clans. To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to the smaller group a smaller one. Whatever falls to them by lot will be theirs. Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes, but if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.”
God told Moses that before the Israelites settled in the Promised Land, they should drive out the wicked inhabitants and destroy their idols.
To move in and possess the new life, we must drive out the sinful thoughts and practices to make room for the new.
New habits to start
Memorize God’s word
Hebrews 4:12
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than a double edged sword. It pentetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitude of the heart.”
Psalm 1:1-3
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.”
Psalm 119:165
“Great peace Have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.”
Find support from others
Take one day at a time
Matt 6:11- “give us this day our daily bread”
Close:
You’re here this morning and you want to give things to the lord...I want to pray with you.
You are just tired and you would want some prayer
You have an unspoken request that keeps you up at night
You truly believe God wants to answer your prayer this morning
Prayer -
