Lake Eufaula Christian Church
When you choose not to conform to society’s ideals, you can then interpret life through the lens of God’s word and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Why stay stuck with just the lens of your past experiences, your woundedness, your trauma, your preferences, or the opinions of others? Why not make a shift toward seeing what’s possible through a Christian perspective?
When you start making daily choices to live as a new creation in Christ, rather than the old way you did, your mind aligns your everyday thoughts with the truth of God’s word. You’ll learn to recognize the enemy’s lies and replace them with Godly truths. You’ll finally have the key to making lasting habit changes. The key? Habit change isn’t just about behavior modification, but about spiritual transformation.
Remember the acronym HABITS to help you achieve the change you want. H stands a healthy identity. Don’t be like Paul who cried out to God in Romans 7 saying, “I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. Oh, what a miserable person I am!”
Quit listening to Satan seducing you to think you can’t change. Get rid of that fear “for God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7). Recognize, as Paul did, who will free you from anything. The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. To build a new, healthy habit, you need a healthy identity through Chris Jesus.
The second letter in habits is A, which stand for “Ask for help.” How’s your prayer life? Is prayer your first response, or your last? Your steering wheel, or your spare tire? Does your prayer relationship drive your life, or just pop up when an emergency or tragedy happens?
James, half-brother of Jesus, mentions the most common problems in prayer. “You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” (James 4:2b-3). If you pray will a sincere desire to align your will his His, He loves to breathe life into your plea.
The B in habit reminds you to be kind to yourself. If you fail to keep up with a good wanted change, don’t give into negative self-talk and selfhatred. Do as Paul did and “focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” (Philippians3: 13, 14) I stands for investigate and make changes to get out of the habit loop. Replace negative triggers, unhealthy actions, wrong rewards with positive triggers, healthy actions, and right rewards.
T stands for trusting God in the process “ For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.” (Philippians 2:13) Follow the HABITS acronym and join us at 415987 Highway 9, Eufaula, where we love to celebrate what the S stands for—small wins that are progress points on our way to bigger goals. We share such joys in small group Bible study at 10 a.m., worship at 11 a.m., and Wednesday night classes for all ages at 6:30 p.m. Don’t even try to think of a better new habit than coming to church. Just come!
God Bless You!
Jeremy Little, Minister
