Get a GripSample

#1 What is controlling you?

Is there a nagging area of your life that seems to crop up again and again? An area of which you never seem to get control?

I remember my stepdad, Bob, who was generally a good-hearted man. He had a serious nicotine addiction. He chain-smoked. I remember many nights would go by with him coughing and spitting up in the bathroom sometimes for over half an hour.

Bob later found out he had throat cancer. He promised himself, my mom, and others he would stop smoking. We all felt better that finally, he would stop this behavior that had been controlling him. We were all disappointed when he chose to keep on smoking.

Bob had to have his vocal cords removed. Again he promised us he would stop smoking as he lifted the device to help him talk up to his throat. Again we had felt better, and again he failed. This went on until his death. Bob never took control of nicotine. He died when I was in my early twenties.

One of the indicators that something has control over you is that you have a history of broken promises. Look back over your life when considering the behavior that has control of you. Do you have any broken promises to yourself, to God, or to others? Have you suffered a loss of a relationship due to this behavior?

If you feel like something has taken control over your life, and you’d like to break free from it, don’t worry. There is hope. The Bible says in Galatians 5:1, "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."

Over the next few days, we’ll go on a journey of identifying bad behaviors, why they stay in control of your life, and what you can do to end their grip on you.

Application:

Take out a piece of paper and draw a chart. In columns, write down any behaviors that you feel might be out of control.

Then in the rows ask yourself some tough questions such as:

• “Have I suffered loss due to this behavior?”
• “Have I had several unsuccessful attempts to stop this behavior?”
• “Do I feel my prayers have been ineffective in helping me against this behavior?”

Put a check next to anything that you answer yes to.

Visualizing your behaviors like this is a great way to identify ones that are out of control. Next time, we’ll take a look at scapegoat mentalities and other ways our bad behaviors stay in control of us.