Changing Bad Habits

God is waiting to show you the way.

4 So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. 5 When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit. Romans 7:4-6 (NLT)
Before we accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, we were in bondage to our fleshly desires. After we accepted Jesus we wanted to do better but we were unable to do so in and of ourselves. Our physical and mental addictions had a real stronghold on us. Self-help courses helped us to stop doing some of those things temporarily but the effects were not permanent. The end was worse than when we first started. God tells us in Isaiah 50:11 (NLT)
11 But watch out, you who live in your own light
and warm yourselves by your own fires.
This is the reward you will receive from me:
You will soon fall down in great torment.
What this means is that we can’t change our bad habits. We have to allow God to do it through us. We are not sinners one moment and perfect the next. Accepting Jesus is not some magic incantation that removes all of our bad habits immediately. Though satan would like us to think that, so he can condemn us when we fail. We are to strive toward perfection knowing that we won’t reach it here on earth. Our new life with Christ is a journey. It is not a quick sprint, it is a life-long marathon. Just like a physical marathon, it takes discipline and daily training. Spend time each day meditating and conversing with God and you will find that when we allow Him to change us, the results are permanent and bring us great peace and joy. Once you have prayed, meditated and talked with God, be sure to give Him the praise He so richly deserves.
Post 11/13

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