About 30 days ago, I quit my 3rd long-term habit. It is not some great sinful thing, but it is bad for my purpose. Okay, I quit for 10 days and relapsed. What happened?
I followed my own advice. I printed about a page of key Bible verses about the habit I was quitting. On day one, I studied these verses. I was completely free, well… for the first week. Then on day 10, life was terrible, and I went running right back to it.
What went wrong?
I assumed that studying my verses for a day or two would annihilate a habit I have had for many decades. Wrong.
Now I am quitting again. My new plan is to read my page of key verses daily. If temptation rises up, to read them yet again.
Second, to find key verses, do a Google search “Verses _______.” Fill in the blank with your habit, then find the Open Bible verses. Fill up a page with those verses.
Third, the problem is, this habit is part of me. It is who I am. How can I live without it? Do I want to live without it?
The truth is, satan is lying again. The habit is not “Part of me.” If Jesus Christ gets all of me, I will increase, and increase in joy.
Lie #2. It is not “Who I am.” It is “Who I was.”
2nd Corinthians reads: 17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
Lie #3 “How can I live without it?” The Bible says that the “Wages of sin is death.” Even if the habit is not sin, if we do it in excess, it becomes sin. If we can’t stop doing it when we need to stop doing it, it becomes sin.
What does “The “Wages of sin is death” mean?
It means that something partially dies or begins to die when we go back to our habit. Yet I honestly wrote above, how can I live without it? How can I live without something partially dying every day of my life? Satan has me fooled. Wait! Satan had me fooled. Today, I just wrote at the top of my scripture printout:
“Something partially dies every time I go back.”
Fourth, my last honest statement above was:
“Do I want to live without it?”
Well… now that satan is no longer fooling me, I do want to live without it. Very much so.
Finally, if you are committed to reading your list of quitting verses daily, consider writing “Committed” in the reply today. I won’t get fooled again.
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