Habits | How to Break Bad Habits | Part 3
We’ve been going through a series called “Habits”, how to develop good and break bad habits. If you remember three weeks ago, we started this series and I preached a sermon entitled “The Power of Habits”. It was really kind of an introduction to the idea of habits. And then of course last week we talked about how to develop good habits and I gave you some thoughts in regards to that. This week it’s our third sermon. We’ve got four sermons in this series. We’re going to talk about how to break bad habits. We’re going to talk about bad habits and how to break bad habits. And then next week as we finish up this series, we’re going to talk about how to dial in your habits.
Notice Romans 7:15 “15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.”. He said “For that which I do I allow not:”. There were things that Paul didn’t allow or didn’t think were right but sometimes he found himself doing them. The things Paul preached not to do, sometimes he was guilty of those same things. Then he says “for what I would, that do I not:”. There were things that he preached that we should do and yet he didn’t always do them. Then he says “but what I hate, that do I.”. I want you to understand what Paul is saying. Paul is saying that there are things he is against and preaches against and sometimes is guilty of it himself. Then there are things that he is for and preaches we should do and doesn’t always do them.
Notice verse 16 “16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.”. Paul is stating that when he does wrong, he admits and is under the realization that what he is doing is not right. Verse 17 “17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.”. He says there are some things that are good that I say I’d like to do and doesn’t end up doing them. Then there are things that he says are evil or wrong or sin and he ends up doing them.
Verse 20 “20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.”. He is basically saying that sometimes it seems easier to do wrong than to do right. What exactly is it that the Apostle Paul is describing here? He is describing what all of us have probably dealt with. It is this idea of getting into a habit or maybe even an addiction that’s being described to you. He says there are things I don’t want to do and I end up doing them and things I do want to do and I don’t do those things.
Then the end of this passage in Romans 7:24 says “24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”. Paul is giving a description of the defeat that comes by living in the flesh. In romans chapter 8 we find a description of the victory that comes by living in the Spirit. He says there in verse 1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”. What I want to show you there is that when we allow bad habits to form and when we allow them to take power and root in our lives, what we often find is people who become addicted to these things. What we find people often saying when we do counseling is similar to the Apostle Paul. They end up doing things they don’t want to do whether it is drugs, alcohol, pornography, etc…
What I want to do this morning is to give you 4 thoughts in regards to how to help you break a bad habit. But before we can really get into that, I need you to understand something that the Apostle Paul brings up here in this chapter. If you’re going to break bad habits in your life or an addiction in your life, you have to realize that there is something working against you. There is a weakness that is working against you. This is why it’s so difficult to develop good habits and it’s so easy to break good habits. However, it’s so easy to develop bad habits and it’s so difficult to break bad habits. You say why is that? Because there is a weakness that is working against you which the Bible refers to as your flesh. If we use sociological terms it would be known as the path of least resistance or the law of least effort.
Verse 18 “18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.”. In this verse we see that Paul says that he has the desire to do right but how to actually follow through with it he can’t find. It’s the path of least resistance. He is saying that he wants to do the right thing but the flesh and sin inside of you is that weakness or that thing working against you.
You will never break bad habits and you’ll never develop good habits and you’ll never come close to understanding how to use habits in your life if you cannot first come to this conclusion and confess and admit that your flesh always wants to take the path of least resistance. Your flesh always wants to do what comes the easiest. Your flesh never wants to do what is difficult, never wants to do what is hard. This is why your flesh likes to sleep in. This is why your flesh does not like to read the Bible every day. This is why your flesh would rather sleep in on a Saturday that get up and go teach somebody how they might spend eternity in heaven as opposed to hell. This is why we tend to overeat, overspend, be undisciplined. Our flesh will always follow the path of least resistance of what comes easiest.
In Matthew 26, Jesus is about to sacrifice himself for the sins of the world. Matthew 26:36 “36 Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. 37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. 38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.”. Jesus is saying to tarry or wait. Jesus is going through the most difficult time in his life. Because as a human being, as God in the flesh, he’s about to sacrifice himself for mankind. He brings his three closest friends (Peter, James and John). Peter and the two sons of Zebedee. And he asks them to wait and watch. You would think that if they are followers of Christ and he is going through his most difficult time then they could tarry for just a little while.
Verse 39 “39 And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”. In his flesh, Jesus didn’t want to do it. He did not want to go through the pain and humiliation. “40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?”. He said it’s only been an hour.
Verse 41 “41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”. This is the same thing that Paul said in Romans 7. The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak. Jesus says that the flesh always takes the path of least resistance. Your flesh always takes the path of least effort. And here here’s all you need to understand, when it comes to breaking bad habits, you need to quit making excuses and be honest and say that your flesh takes the path of least resistance. If you get caught drinking, smoking or whatever, it is your flesh that chose to do that.
Here’s an illustration for you on the principle of least resistance. The path of least resistance actually shaped human civilization. Agriculture spread twice as fast across Europe and Asia as it did in North America, South America and Africa. If you study western civilization you’ll find that Europe and Asia were the civilizations that advanced before other civilizations. Africa, South America and North America for the most part had civilizations in them that were less advanced. You had the tribal Indian native type cultures versus what you had in Europe and in Asia which were civilizations.
What caused one location to prosper and another to not? People who study habits and study these types of things are beginning to realize that the path of least resistance. And that concept actually shaped the expansion of civilization. Let me just read this for you. Why is it that Europe and Asia developed faster than Africa, South America and North America? Here’s why. Because it was easier. Let me just read this to you. I think you’ll find it interesting. This is a little excerpt called “Why Asia and European civilizations advanced faster than Africa and the Americas”.
“The primary access of the Americas runs from north to south. That is the land mass of North and South America. They tend to be tall and thin rather than wide and fat. The same is generally true for Africa. Meanwhile, the land masses that make up Europe, Asia and the Middle East is the opposite. The massive stretch of land tends to be more east to west in shape. When agriculture began to spread around the globe, farmers had an easier time expanding along the east and west routes than along the north-south ones. This is because locations along the same latitude generally share similar climates, amount of sunlight, rainfall and changes in seasons. These factors allow farmers in Europe and Asia to domesticate a few crops and grow them along the entire stretch of the land from France to China”.
You say why is it that Europe and Asia advanced sooner than South America, Africa and North America? Simply the same reason why all of us do anything. Because it was easier. Because we take the path of least resistance. Because we take the path of least effort. And it was easier to have farming communities that stretched from east to west than they did from north to south. I use that as an illustration to say this. What’s working against you is your flesh. What’s working against you is the fact that your flesh wants to always take the easy route, the path of least resistance.
So let me give you 4 thoughts this morning in regards to how to bread bad habits. And I want you to understand this these four ideas have to do with working around your flesh. If you’re lazy then you need to come to grips with that. We have a lot of hard-working people at our Church but naturally in our flesh, we want to be lazy. We want to be undisciplined. We want to do what comes easiest. We don’t want to put in effort. So how do we break habits when our flesh wants to take the path of least resistance?
Number one. To break bad habits you must first of all remove the cues. If you remember, we talked about how a habit forms starting with a cue to a craving to an action. The result of the cue is what we would biblically call a temptation. Here’s what you need to understand about temptations. It is easier to avoid temptation than to resist it. I mean notice Matthew 26:41 “41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”. We tend to pray that God gives us the strength not to give in to temptations, not to drink, not to be worldly or hang out with the wrong crowd. But this verse talks about avoid, not resisting a temptation. Why is that? Because the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak. When a temptation makes itself available to you, your spirit may have every good intention to want to avoid that or not do it but your flesh is weak. So instead of trying to resist your flesh and resist the temptation, Jesus said it’s better to avoid it. “Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation”.
Matthew 6:13 “13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”. Why would Jesus say to lead us not into temptation? Why would he pray that that we would not be led into temptation but be delivered from evil? Why would he tell the disciples watch and pray that you enter not into temptation? Here’s why. Because it is easier to avoid temptation than it is to resist temptation. And by the way, this is the message about overcoming sin throughout the Bible.
If you want to break a bad habit, step 1 is to remove all the cues. Remove everything that tempts you. Do everything in your power to avoid those cues and remove them. It’s not about getting more will power to resist the temptation. It’s better to focus on removing the opportunity. 1st Corinthians 10:13 “13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man:…”. Whatever you are struggling with, others have gone through the same thing. “…but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”. Suffer means to allow. People often get the wrong idea because they do wrong and are confused because they didn’t think God would allow something to cross their path where they would mess up. But the connection of not allowing you to be tempted goes to the statement of “but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”.
Let me explain something to you. You were not meant, you were not created, you were not in the state to live before a continual temptation. You say “I don’t understand why I keep fornicating with her when I know it is wrong.”. Because you are alone with her. Your flesh is weak and takes the path of least resistance. It’s not that complicated. You were not meant to live before continual temptation. Why? Because willpower is a muscle and like any muscle it gets tired and it gets fatigued. If you are in front of temptation long enough then you’ll give in. You say “That’s not very encouraging.”. I’m helping give you a strategy to fight it. Remove all of the cues. How do you bear the temptation? By taking it away, by escaping. You were meant to live under continual temptation.
1st Corinthians 6:18 “18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.”. What does it mean to “flea”? It means to run away from it. By the way moms and dads, I’m not mad at you but letting these kids hang out in rooms and cars by themselves is stupid. You are setting them up for failure. 1st Corinthians 10:14 “14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.”. 1st Timothy 6:11 “11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.”. Paul just got done talking to Timothy about all sorts of bad things. Paul has one piece of advice. “flee these things”. 2nd Timothy 2:22 “22 Flee also youthful lusts:…”. Notice, he never says resist it or fight it. The Bible says to run or flee from it. “but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”. Why is this? Because it is easier to avoid a temptation than to resist it. You were not meant to live before continual temptation.
People think they are strong, spiritual and able to fight against any temptation. The Bible tells us to flee these things. And look, I’m all for getting more self-control and self-discipline and developing these things. But studies show that people with tremendous self-control are no different than anyone else. They just spend less time in tempting situations. How do we break a bad habit? By removing the temptations. You remove the cues. Why? Because it’s easier to avoid temptation than to resist it.
Go to Proverbs 4. The Apostle Paul often uses the terminology of youthful lust and fornication. And I think he does that for a reason. But let me just say this. That’s why you can never convince me that it’s ok for you to hug and hold hands when you’re not married. The Bible says that it is good for a man not to touch a woman. “To avoid fornication let every man have his own wife.”. When is it ok to hug and kiss and hold hands? When you’re married. That’s what the Bible says. You can think I’m old-fashioned if you want but small things lead to big things. It will destroy your life because your flesh is weak. Our flesh likes to take the path of least resistance. It is difficult when a situation rises up to resist a temptation.
Proverbs 4:14 “14 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. 15 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.”. The Bible is saying not to put yourself in those situations. Proverbs 4:27 “27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.”. I’m not trying to be crude and I don’t want to pass that line and I hope you understand that. But when young people are in a car and in the mood to do something stupid and you’re trying to resist then you are setting yourself up for failure. Instead just be out in the open and when you avoid the cues then you will avoid the cravings. Start by removing the cues. You parents can do or allow whatever you want but I would never advise that you let your kids be alone with their friends. How do I break bad habits? You remove the temptations. Why? Because it is easier to avoid a temptation than to resist it. If you can eliminate the cue, if you can eliminate the temptation, you will keep the craving from starting. So remove the temptation.
You say “Pastor, what happens if the cue has happened and then the craving comes?”. Number 1 avoid the cues and number 2 reduce the cravings. You can reduce the possibility of giving into a craving by making the behavior difficult. Here’s what I’m saying. Whatever you want to do, the good habit you want to start, make it as easy as possible. And whatever you want to stop doing, make it as difficult as possible.
Romans 13:14 “14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”. Putting on the Lord Jesus Christ is when you wake up in the morning and start your time with God of Bible reading and prayer. But what does it show to us in order to reduce the craving? Make it difficult to fulfill the lust. Success is often about making good habits as easy as possible and bad habits as difficult as possible. And by the way, if you want to develop a good habit then make it as easy as possible. If you’re really struggling with developing a habit of reading the Bible, do everything in your power to put things in front of you to remind you to read the Bible. Before you go to bed, open your Bible. Put a Bible in the location you plan to read it the next day. Some people just leave their Bible everywhere and they don’t know where to find it when they do want to read it. Make it as easy as possible. If you want to start running or exercising in the morning then put your shoes and workout clothes by the front door the night to prepare for it. Make it easy to do the right thing and hard to do the wrong thing. Success is about making good habits easier and bad habits difficult. The best way to break a bad habit is to make it impractical to do.
Go to James 4. Here’s the thing. I’m not here to tell you that you can break a bad habit without having any willpower or any sacrifice at all. You’re going to have to use your willpower but you have to realize that your willpower is so small that you’ve got to put every sort of effort to make it as easy for your willpower as possible. That doesn’t mean that you’re not still going to have to resist to some extent. But the best way to break a bad habit is to make it impractical to do.
Let me read to you what experts refer to as a commitment device. A commitment device is a negative application for a bad habit. Last week we talked about the intention implementation. The intention implementation is for a good habit. It is when you make a decision or a specific choice that on this day and at this time I will perform this behavior. At a set time I will read the Bible, go soulwinning, exercise or whatever. We learned from Daniel that he purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat. Well the reverse to that is a commitment device. It is a negative application for a bad habit. What is a commitment device? A commitment device is where you make a commitment while you’re strong to cut off the possibilities while you’re weak. You choose in advance.
Let me give you an example. If you struggle with spending and then you’re out at the grocery store or mall, a commitment device would be making a decision not to spend more than ____ at the store. A commitment device would be going to that store with a specific amount of money so it’s impossible to spend over it. That means you might have to leave the credit card at home. When you are strong, you cut off all possibilities. The Bible calls it “not making provision for the flesh”.
I’m not endorsing Johnny Cash but I’ve heard this mentioned in sermons at Churches. He wanted to quit drugs and he went out and rented this little house and then paid a bodyguard to basically lock him in. He had enough food for a week or something like that but he told the bodyguard that no matter how much he begged for money to buy something that his bodyguard wasn’t allowed to let him out of the house. The windows were boarded up and everything. I don’t know if that is a true story or not but that is an example of a commitment device. If there is a temptation that you always struggle with then set yourself up for success where it is hard to fail.
If you struggle with drinking alcohol then don’t go to restaurants where they have alcohol. By the way, there is never a reason why you as a Christian need to be in a bad. But you might go to a restaurant that has a bar. Let me also say this. That if you go to a restaurant and they ask you if you want to sit at a bar. The answer to that should be no also. But you might not even want to go to a restaurant that has a bard if you struggle with it. Reduce the cravings by making it difficult. Success is about making good habits easier and the bad habits difficult. The best way to break a bad habit is to make it impractical to do. Make it hard for yourself when you’re strong. When you’re strong, make it difficult for yourself. Put you on the Lord Jesus Christ.
When you have on the Lord Jesus Christ, when you’re walking in the spirit, when you’re strong then you realize you need to quit doing wrongs and quit watching things. At that moment, make not provision for the flesh. Make a commitment device. Make choices to cut off your option so that when you’re weak, your options are limited. James 4:7 “7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”. Here’s the truth about temptations. If you resist them, the craving will eventually go away. If you resist the Devil, he will flee from you. The Devil is the tempter. It’s not always him who tempts you but the idea is that if you resist it long enough then it’ll flee. The problem is some of you are trying to live in front of temptation all day long and you can’t resist it for that long. So what do you do? You remove the cues so you don’t even have to be tempted by it. And reduce the craving as well.
How do you bread bad habits? Number 1 – Realize that you’re flesh and your flesh always takes the path of least resistance. So remove the cues. It’s easier to avoid temptation than to resist. Success is about making good habits easier and bad habits difficult. The best way to break a bad habit is to make it impractical to do. Here’s number three. To break bad habits, you must realize the disappointment. Realize that negative habits always promise a better reward than what they deliver.
Hebrews 11:25 “25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;”. I’m not going to lie to you. There is pleasure in sin. But I’m also going to be truthful with you and tell you that it is for a season. Negative habits promise a better reward than they deliver. Let me explain it to you. When it comes to habit formation and breaking bad habits, the craving is the problem. You’re never going to get rid of cues and temptations. Obviously you want to do the best you can in life to keep temptations at bay and to keep them away from you as much as possible. With that said though, there’s always going to be temptations. There’s always going to be cues.
When it comes to bad habits, the craving is the problem. When you receive a reward, when you do something and you receive a reward, your mind and brain releases endorphins and you feel good. The same system is activated in the brain as when you anticipate a reward. I really want you to understand this especially if you’re struggling with a habitual sin. When you receive a reward your brain lights up because you receive the reward. The problem is that there’s another part of your brain that also lights up that’s activated which is the brain that anticipates rewards. So the part of your brain that anticipates a reward is activated at the same time as the part of your brain that receives a reward. You say “What’s the problem with that?”. It is the anticipation of the reward, not the fulfillment of the reward that motivates action. Do you understand that? That’s why you drink. That’s why you smoke. That’s why you do drugs. That’s why you look at pornography. That’s why you gamble. That’s why whatever the habitual sin is that you’re struggling with, what moves you to do it. It is the anticipation of the reward, not the fulfillment of the reward that motivates us to action. Desire is the engine that drives behavior. Every action is taken because of an anticipation that precedes it.
Now here’s the big deal and this is what I really want you to understand. Your brain has more neural circuitry wired for the wanting and craving and the anticipation of the reward than you have for the experience of actually liking or enjoying the reward. You say what does that mean? Here’s what that means. When somebody has some sort of a habitual struggle, let’s use the example of alcohol. But we could use other things as well. Maybe it is gambling or pornography or drugs or stealing. I mean it could be any sort of habitual thing. But when you’ve already developed that bad habit, your internal flesh begins to crave and your brain starts telling you “I really want to do this. It’s going to feel this good. It’s going to be this great.”. Why? Because there’s more neural circuitry in your brain for the anticipation of something than for the actual experiencing or reward of it.
So here’s what happens. I’ve been counseling people and my wife has been counseling people for a long time. For 11 years we’ve dealt with a lot of people that have struggled with drugs and alcohol and all sorts of things. And I’ve explained this to many people and every time I explain this to people, it’s like their lights their eyes light up and they know that it is correct. When you struggle with a habitual sin in the craving phase of it, your brain tells you it’s going to be this good and then when you actually do it it’s not that good. Your brain tells you that drug is going to be this great and when you actually do it, it’s not that great that. Alcohol is going to be this great but when you actually do it, it’s not that great. Same with gambling, pornography or whatever.
Why? Because your brain is wired to actually feel the anticipation of something more than to feel the reward of it. Why? Because it is the anticipation, it is the craving that drives action. Desire drives action. So here’s what happens. The first time you do it, it results in something and then your brain starts expecting that same feeling every time you do it. But it’s never that great. That’s why you always have to do more drugs, drink more alcohol, do more of whatever it is. Because you think it’s going to be this great and it’s never that great. It never is. And then not only that, not only was it not that great, then you have all this guilt. You have all this shame. You have all this depression and discouragement that comes along with it.
How do we break these habits? You must remove the temptations all together. Try to do everything in your power to remove them. Why? It’s easier to avoid than to resist. Then you must reduce the cravings by making it as difficult as possible. “Make not provision for the flesh”. But also when you’re dealing with and you’re resisting the devil, you have to give some “self-talk” to use a Psychology term. It’s called reframing your thoughts or the Bible calls it renewing your mind. What does that mean? That means you have to actually talk to yourself and say “Right now I want to commit this sin and my brain is telling me that it’s going to be great but I know from experience that it won’t be that great. Then I will end up having guilt and shame as a result. Maybe I should just resist the devil because this will eventually.”.
I often tell people this when I try to help with these things. I say “Look, you want to remove and replace it with something. Is there something else you like that’s not sinful and when we’re talking about drugs and alcohol you can focus on that. You can drink a soda or ice cream or have something to eat”. Here is the thing, when you are struggling to want to drink and you’ve already done everything you can and you still have this temptation, try to replace it with something. Your brain is lying to you because you have more neural circuitry to help you enjoy the anticipation of a thing than to actually experience the thing. Why? Because your flesh knows that it is anticipation that drives action. It is desire that motivates your decisions. So you remove the temptation, you reduce the cravings and you remind yourself of this disappointment. You remind yourself that every time my brain has said it’s going to be this great, it’s actually not that great. And having some popcorn or drinking a soda or going for a walk or whatever, that’s not as great as what my brain is telling me either but nothing’s as great as what my brain is telling me. And at least with those things, there’s no guilt and no shame and you reframe your thoughts.
If you’re trying to break a habit, you’re going to have to utilize all of these things. You need to remove the cues because it’s easier to avoid temptation than to resist it. You need to eliminate the cue to keep the craving from starting. Once the craving has started though, success is about making good habits easy and bad habits difficult. The best way to break a bad habit is to make it impractical. And when you’re struggling with it, and when you’re fighting with it, and you’ve done everything in your power to stack the odds in the favor of your willpower then you reframe your thoughts. If you resist then the temptation will flee.
Let me give you the last point and we’ll finish up. Remove the temptation, reduce the cravings, remind yourself of the disappointment. Replace your environment. Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior. In 1st Samuel 19, we have a really interesting story. At this point of the story, Saul is the bad guy and David is the good guy. Saul is envious of David and he’s attacking David. 1st Samuel 19:19-20 “19 And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah. 20 And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.”. This is basically a men’s preaching night with Samuel in charge. They show up with the job to capture David and see people preaching, then they are like “I have a sermon too.”. They also preach.
1st Samuel 19:21 “21 And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. 22 Then went he also to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Sechu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, they be at Naioth in Ramah. 23 And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah.”. Saul shows up and the spirit of god comes upon him and he starts prophesying. You say what is this? It’s environment. What does that mean? Here’s what it means. You show up to men’s preaching night enough times, you might end up preaching. Maybe you start coming to fellowship with everyone but then it motivates you to want to preach also. Here’s what I’m saying. The Bible says “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”.
Why? Because the environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior. Despite our unique personalities, certain behaviors tend to arise again and again under certain circumstances. Despite our unique personalities, certain behaviors tend to arise again and again under certain circumstances. Some of you went to Church for years before going soulwinning. But once you came to Verity Baptist, that changed because we have a soul winning environment here. Some of you never read the Bible much or prayed but you started coming here and that changed. What happened?
Despite our unique personalities, certain behaviors tend to arise again and again under certain circumstances. It turns out you show up to the Church like this and you’ll probably be one of the 120 that goes out soul winning every week. And if you hang out with a bunch of drunks, you will probably start drinking like them. Why? Because environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior. So the spirit of God was upon the prophets. They were prophesying. Saul sends his messengers and they end up prophesying.
Remember that God called Abraham to start a new movement of believers. Genesis 12:1 “Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:”. Habits can be easier to change in a new environment. He tells him to leave his country and family. I’m not telling you that you need to move. First of all, it may not be possible for you to move, sometimes because of sin or sometimes because of the life you find yourselves in. I know people that would love to move to a Church like this but they have kids and they aren’t with their child’s parent and want to stay there to be a good influence. It’s not always practical to move.
The point is this. God never tells us to go out and be Amish and live away from people. But God does tell us to come out from among them and be separate. And by the way, we live in a world where everyone is connected via social media. I think it’s great that people come to Church and learn the word of God but I also believe that you should be in Church to develop friends. Your social life should be surrounded by Church and God’s people. You say why? Because environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior. I understand that at your job, you are around a bunch of worldly people and you ought to be friendly to them. Friendly enough to get them saved and get them in Church and all that. But they shouldn’t be your best friends. They shouldn’t just be the people you’re spending all your time with. Why? Because they will influence you.
So where should you get your friends? At Verity Baptist Church. Why don’t you show up early, stay a little late? Smile, learn people’s names and try to show up to their bridal shower or whatever. Show up to events and try to actually develop friends. Why? Because environment is so important. Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior and habits can be easier to change in a new environment. So get around God’s people. Spend time with God’s people. If you are trying to get away from bad friends and a bad environment then come to Church Sunday Morning, Sunday Night and Wednesday Night and soulwinning.
If you look at our bulletin, we have event after event around here. Stay busy with God’s people. Stay busy in the right environment. Be friendly with the people you work with. You say, “Well, my extended family is worldly.”. Be friendly to them but Jesus looked at his disciples and said that was his family. Get yourself a new environment.
How do you break a bad habit? There is not 1 thing that you can do to break a bad habit. You have to do everything to help stack the odds in your favor. So what should we do? Remove temptations, do your best to avoid them all together. If you struggle with driving by a bar that you used to go to as you come home from work, pick a different route to drive. Success is about making good habits easier and bad habits difficult. The best way to break a bad habit is to make it impractical to do. Realize the disappointment. Renew your mind. Frame your thoughts. Remind yourself that negative habits promise a better reward than they deliver and what they deliver is always a letdown. It always comes with guilt and shame. Remind yourself of the let down and amplify the negative results. And then replace your environment. Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior. Habits can be easier to change in a new environment.
You say what do I do? Here’s what you do. Walk in the spirit and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh. But walking in the spirit is not some sort of a spiritual phrase that we say. It’s not a magical phrase. Walking in the spirit looks like walking a direction that removes temptations. Walk in a way that reduces the cravings. Walk in a way and think in a way that realizes disappointment. I’m going to replace my environment. That’s what walking into the spirit is. It means you’re actually doing something different than what you did before. And then once you’ve stacked all the odds in your favor, go ahead and resist the devil. And God promises if you can resist him long enough he will flee.
Let’s pray.