Simple Life Habits

Why did I do it again?! Breaking habits can seem like an uphill battle for sure. Just when you feel like you are getting to the top of the hill, you stumble and roll half way down. Why does life seem so hard at times? Why is there such a big gap between where I am and where I want to be? Does God really have a plan for my life or am I just supposed to struggle along through life until I get to the other side?

Have you ever had these discussions with yourself? I sure have. I have stumbled so many times 70×7 seems like a small number.

The Big Revelation

A few years ago (after one of my major screw ups), I was praying, thinking and contemplating my life when I had a revelation. When it comes to your bad habits (lack of exercise, overweight, overspending, fill in whatever bad habit here ___________) you really only have two choices:

1. Live miserable and let your bad habits control you
2. Decide not to quit


Giving Up is Not an Option

I decided that day that giving up was not an option. My life, my family and my God was too important. So, if you are discouraged about where you are in life at this moment, make a resolution deep in your soul: Giving up is not an option! It will be freeing to your soul.

The 3 Simple Ideas for Breaking Habits

1. Get a Lofty Vision for Your Life – Mark Batterson discusses this idea in his book “The Wild Goose Chase.” He goes on to explain that personal vision is the cure for sin and bad habits.

One reason that many of us get entangled in sin is because we don’t have enough God-ordained vision to keep us busy. The more vision you have, the less you will sin. And the less vision you have, the more you will sin. It is vision from God that keeps us playing offense spiritually. – Mark Batterson

Wild Goose Chase: Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God

Find a God-ordained passion and pour your life into it. It will draw you into a more meaningful existance and trade short-term gratification (bad habits) in for long-term satisfaction (good habits).

2. Decide to Do the Good Habit Anyway – Right after we have fallen into a bad habit our mind begins playing tricks with us. For example, you say: “Well, I ate one peice of cake, might as well have another.” It is almost like the Christian life is constant pent up demand. We try to live so good for “x” number of days and then decide that if we are going to fall let’s go down hard! We live the Christian life in extremes and it turns into Bipolar Christianity. In order to overcome this you have to decide that you are going to still do the good habit no matter what. After we eat the chocolate cake we tell ourselves that it is no use exercising today so I guess I will just start tomorrow. Don’t do that! Decide that you are going to exercise today anyway and keep the good habits rolling right along with the bad ones.

3. Employ a Tough Love Accountability Partner -  Adding an accountability partner can be one of the most difficult (yet rewarding) things that we can ever do. We live in a “Surface Society.” By that I mean, we know many people but very few if any really know us. No one knows the deep parts of our life as we keep everyone at arm’s length. Finding someone to show you tough love can be just what the doctor ordered. Go buy two cans of dog food. Give one to your accountability partner and keep the other one in sight.

Set a goal to do one of your good habits in a consistent manner (like a week). If you do not fulfill your obligation, tell your accountability partner that you will open the dog food and take a bite. Yuck! I know this is a extreme example, but hopefully I got your attention. I guarantee one thing: the next time you want to roll over you just might be motivated to get out of bed and exercise (or whatever good habit you have chosen).

Let me leave you with this thought: “The difference between where you are and where God wants you to be may be the painful decision you refuse to make” -Greg Groeschel

What is your painful decision that you are avoiding?

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