The Habit Breaker – Ems HancockSample

What healthy habits can we build into our lives?

Thomas a Kempis wrote, “Habit is overcome by habit.” In my own journey, I have found this to be both helpful and true.

In our reading today we see that we must clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord to move (verse 3). In our walk towards freedom, we must be deliberate about making “straight paths”.

But more than this, if our lives are to be a beautiful garden, it is not enough to simply clear a patch of earth and hope for the best. Why? Because weeds like nothing more than empty space! No. If I want a stunning garden, I must deliberately sow a number of new plants in the patch. Then I should cover the ground with some kind of mulch to stop old weeds coming back. The most effective weed treatment isn’t to kill the weeds when they arrive, or wait until they become unmanageable before tackling them, but to stop them having room to grow in the first place.

If I am to be free of bad habits, I must not only clear them from my life, but fill the space left behind with healthy, life-giving practices. Maybe you feel swamped by addictions and poor habits in your life. Perhaps you have even given up promising yourself any attempt at change, because you are fed up with the lack of genuine, lasting progress you make? Maybe you don’t want to try anymore because you can’t handle the disappointment of staying the same, or getting worse.

But ultimately this kind of attitude is the burglar of joy. Growth and change are ESSENTIAL if we are to become more like Jesus. Because of Him we ARE capable of massive, outlandish, audacious, crazy, miraculous, hard-won, disciplined, self-controlled and glorious change! In my book The Habit Breaker, I list and explore 5 healthy habits I think we need to cultivate to get and stay free. These are:

1. Intimacy with God – knowing who He is
2. Self-knowledge – knowing who you are
3. Self-control – knowing how to be disciplined
4. Balance – knowing how to tackle extremes
5. Staying power – sticking with recovery when things are hard

PRAYER:

Father, please show me the healthy habits I need, so that I create less room for addictive tendencies to thrive. Help me believe in your power to change me. Amen.