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Old habits die hard9/3/2023 In Ephesians 6:10-11 Paul encourages us to “Be strong in the Lord and is his mighty power. The Apostle Paul declares in Ephesians Chapter 6 that we are in a spiritual battle, not a physical one. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” If we fail to pay attention, we will fall prey to the devil and his schemes.īut there is also more we can do than just be aware and alert. The Apostle Peter asserts this clearly in 1 Peter 5:8 when he wrote, “Be self-controlled and alert. So, he will do whatever he must to keep us from submitting our lives to God through Christ. His aim is to draw us away from Christ and to keep us there, essentially worshipping him instead. He does not want us to change, nor does he want us to believe in Christ. ![]() There’s no other way for it to happen.īut we should also be aware that Satan doesn’t give up easily. If we want to truly get rid of our bad habits, we must let Christ and His Holy Spirit take over our lives. They can only be overcome by the Spirit of God through faith in Christ! As the Bible says in Zechariah 4:6, “Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit says the Lord Almighty.” Unless we submit our lives to God and His Holy Spirit, we will never be able to rid ourselves of our old bad habits. With that mindset we will always struggle because we cannot get rid of these physical habits with physical remedies. I would suggest that it’s hard because we think we need to get rid of them ourselves and by our own power. The Apostle Paul describes it as a new creation in 2 Corinthians 5:17 when he said, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation the old has gone, the new has come.” Consequently, if we are a new creation in Christ, why do we still hang onto these old bad habits? And why is it so hard to get rid of them? It’s like killing our old life to have a new one. He was talking about a spiritual rebirth and being born again in the spirit ( John 3:5). But that’s not what Jesus was talking about. Nicodemus didn’t understand and asked Jesus how he could re-enter his mother’s womb. When Jesus met with Nicodemus at night, Jesus told him that we must be born again ( John 3:3). They don’t want to give up their grip on us, and we often don’t want to let go of them either, even though we know we should. We often make New Year’s resolutions to try and change our ways, but they often don’t last long, and we end up back where we started. ![]() ![]() Many of us carry around some bad habits, things that we do that we know we probably shouldn’t do since we are now followers of Christ. In either case, it’s a time to focus on God and not us. For others it might mean attending a Lenten Bible study or prayer meetings. For some people it also means self-denial and giving up something during Lent, such as things they enjoy, as a means of self-discipline. It is a time for prayer, fasting, and remembering Christ’s life, death, and resurrection and what it means for us. We are in the season of Lent where Christians spend 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter in spiritual preparation and reflection. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing, and perfect will.” Romans 12:2 “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
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