Habits | How To Develop Good Habits | Part 2
We’re there in 2nd Corinthians Chapter 5. We started a brand-new series entitled “Habits”, how to develop good habits and how to break bad habits. If you remember from last week, we started with an introductory sermon entitled “The Power of Habits”. Why you would even want to develop good habits or why you’d want to break bad habits. And I would encourage you if you weren’t with us last week to check that sermon out. Is in on our YouTube channel and our website. This morning we’re going to continue on with the subject of habits and today we’re going to look at the idea of how to develop good habits. We talked about the power of habits last week and how to develop good habits this week. Next week we’re going to talk about how to break bad habits and then we’ll end the series with a sermon on how to dial in your habits.
This morning I want to give you 3 thoughts in regards to habit formation or how to develop good habits. Because here’s what we all know, good habits are hard to develop and bad habits are easy to develop. In fact, you develop those without even trying. Just one day you wake up and you realize you’ve developed all these bad habits. Good habits are hard to develop and easy to break. I want to speak to you about how to develop good habits. Now obviously when we’re talking about a habit, a habit is something that we do routinely and regularly and sometimes even automatically. And again these could be good things or it could be bad things. Next week we’re going to talk about breaking bad habits. For something to be a habit, you’re going to have to perform it on a regular basis whether it’s a daily habit or a weekly habit or even a monthly habit. It has to be performed on a regular basis. I think we all understand that when it comes to developing good habits. When we talk about developing good habits, that also entails changing your behavior. Today we are talking about developing good habits and next week we’re talking about breaking bad habits.
I want to give you 3 thoughts this morning in regards to how to develop good habits. Again this goes alongside with the idea that if you’re going to develop a habit, you’re going to have to do it on a regular basis. If it’s a daily habit, a weekly habit, something you want to do two or three times a week, then you’re going to have to do it routinely. The problem is that it is easy to understand but hard to actually get yourself to do it. Let me give you three thoughts this morning and hopefully they’ll help you out.
2nd Corinthians 5:17 “17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”. This is a verse that is telling us that when you got saved (Which happens by believing on Jesus Christ and putting your faith in him for your salvation), you became a new creature. Sometimes people misunderstand that verse and think that if you’re saved, then you’re never going to do anything wrong anymore or you’re not going to sin anymore or you’re not going to have the struggles of the old life anymore. However, that’s not true. Because though you are a new creature, you still have the old man. You have an old man and you have a new man and these are often at odds with each other.
But I want you to notice that the Bible does say “17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”. You say what does this have to do with habit formation? What does this have to do with developing good habits? Here’s point number one: To develop good habits you must change your identity. If you’re going to develop good habits, you’re going to have to change your identity. You’re going to have to change the way you see yourself. See, to change in life, to change your behavior, to change your conduct, you must change your identity.
You say “Well how in the world do I change my identity?”. 2 ways – First of all we change our identity. The good news is that if you’re saved, you already have a new identity. When you called upon Christ for salvation, God gave you a new man. God made you a new person. You became a new creature and God gave you a new identity. Have you ever noticed, and I’m not going to take the time to go through and show you all the verses, but have you ever noticed in the Bible how God often changes the names of individuals in the Bible? And you’ll notice that the change in their name doesn’t always happen when they got saved. Sometimes it happens when they got saved but it usually always happens when they begin to follow God or begin to be a follower of God. Because please understand this, getting saved and being a follower of Jesus Christ are two different things. You can be saved and not be a follower. You can be saved and not be a disciple. But you’ll notice in the Bible that God will often change the names of individuals.
What are some examples? Abram became Abraham. His wife Sarai became Sarah. Jacob became Israel. Saul became Paul. Simon became Peter. We have these examples of individuals that have their names changed. Why does God do that? Here’s why. Because he is changing their identity. See, Jacob was known as a supplanter. He was known as a thief. He was known as a liar. He was known as a sneaky person or as a bad person but God changed his name to Israel. Why? Because as a Prince, he had power with God and with men. Abram was known as someone that did not have children or a legacy. Abraham on the other hand was known as the father of a great nation. And with that change in name, there came a change in identity. Oftentimes God understands this and God tries to teach this to us. Now if you’re saved, you already have a new identity.
You might say that you already understand that you got a new identity when you got saved. However, the problem is that before you were saved you were lazy and after you got saved you were still lazy. The problem is that before you got saved you smoke and after you got saved you smoke. Before you got saved you lack discipline and integrity and you still lack it after salvation. This again goes to the idea that salvation is not of works. You don’t get changed by turning over a new leaf. You don’t get changed by repenting of your sins. You don’t get saved by changing anything. When you got saved, all that changed was your destination. But God did give you a new identity. However, the key is to start walking in that new identity.
Ephesians 5:8 “8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:”. See, it uses that past tense to say “ye were sometimes darkness”. Then it says in the present tense “now are ye light”. But it only works to making a change in you if you “walk as children of light:”. The Bible says that we are light as saved people but he wants us to walk as children of light. See, it’s not enough to get a new identity. You have to walk in that identity. You have to actually begin to do what God says. How do we change our identity? We change our identities by changing what we do.
Maybe you say “Well, I’ve always been this way. I’ve always been late. I’ve always lied. I’ve always stolen. I’ve always been lazy.”. You have these identities. Hopefully you want to change these identities but how do you do it? In Ephesians 4, Paul deals with our conduct and behavior and our actions as though they are something that we “put on” like clothing. The thing with clothing is that if you are to “put on” clothes then you have to “put off” or take off the other clothes. Here is the thing about clothes, you choose what you put on. Paul is saying that your conduct or behavior are choices you make.
Ephesians 4:22 “22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;”. Notice you are “putting off the former conversation”. Conversation is an old-fashioned word in our Bible meaning lifestyle, conduct or behavior. Verse 23 “23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”. See, to change your habits then you need to change your identity. The most practical way to change who you are is to change what you do.
Now some of you are sitting here thinking “This sounds very spiritual, very religious. How is this really going to help me change my identity. Being a new creature, how does that really help me in life?”. Please understand this, I’m not trying to sell you on a spiritual concept, although it is a spiritual concept. You need to understand that the more you repeat a behavior, the more you reinforce the identity associated with that behavior. Here’s an example. Somebody offers you some cigarettes. There’s a group of people smoking. You walk outside on break and somebody offers you a cigarette. One person says “No thanks because I’m trying to quit” and the other says “No thanks, I’m not a smoker”. What’s the difference? Their identity.
I understand that we have people at our Church who have gone to AA programs and I’m thankful for those things. There are benefits to them and I know they have helped some people. But one problem I have with AA and programs like that is where you identify yourself in a way like this “I’m John and I’m an alcoholic.”. See, in Christ you’re a new creature. The old man might be an alcoholic but not the new man. “all things are passed away behold all things are become new”. See, building better habits is not about doing. Please understand this. Building better habits is not about doing something new. It’s not about having something new. It is about becoming someone new. And the more you repeat a behavior, the more you reinforce the identity associated with that behavior.
See, maybe you start going running and you run and run and eventually you stop going running and you are a runner. I remember talking to Pastor Anderson and he likes to run. He said he started it because he used to do kickboxing and wanted to build up his endurance. He started running to build up his endurance to do that better. He got injured and he needed to kind of take a break from kickboxing anyway. So he started running on a regular basis. After running for weeks and months, he realized that he just liked running. He forgot about the other thing. He used to run for a specific purpose but now he is just a runner. It eventually just became his identity. I’m not saying that you need to run but I’m just giving you an example. Some people have to force themselves to run. What is the difference? Their identity. It’s not just running to lose weight. Eventually when you repeat a behavior, it becomes who you are.
Maybe you start by playing or practicing an instrument. If you do it long enough though then eventually you’ll be a musician. There is a difference between someone who plays the piano and a pianist. There is a difference between someone who goes soulwinning or starts soulwinning and someone who is a soulwinner. See, some people get into Church and they want to try and test things out. You try out the preaching, the Bible reading, the soulwinning. Eventually you go from “going to a Baptist Church” to “I’m an Independent Fundamental Baptist”. You don’t go soulwinning but you are a soulwinner. See, when you repeat a behavior, you reinforce the identity associated with that behavior. What do we need to develop a good habit? You must change your identity. Quit saying “I’m trying to quit drinking alcohol” and say “I’m not an alcoholic”. I’m not a smoker. I’m not a drug user. I’m a new creature in Christ.
By the way, you didn’t set out to be known as the rebellious brat teenager. You just started rebelling and being a brat and you did that enough to where this is how your parents became to know you. You didn’t set out to be known as the untrustworthy liar. You just started lying and became untrustworthy and now this is how you’re known. You didn’t set out to be known as the person who spends all their money and never saves. You started spending all your money and never saving. And here’s all I’m saying. You say “But that’s who I am.”. Yes that is true but you can change your identity. How do you do that? Slowly by slowly start telling the truth. Slowly by slowly start saving some money. Slowly by slowly start having the right attitude. Slowly by slowly, step by step like we talked about last week. Line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. Start moving in the direction and performing the action that you want to be known for and one day it won’t be something you do. It’ll be someone you are.
You say “How do you develop good habits?”. You must change your identity. How do you do that? By changing what you do. “that you put off concerning the former conversation the old man and you put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”. See, they used to know you as a drunkard. They used to know you as a drug addict. They used to know you as a crook. They used to know you as a thief. But when you start putting those things up and you start putting those things on, eventually they’ll start saying “Oh, he’s not a drunkard anymore. He’s a Bible thumper. Oh he’s not a criminal anymore. He’s a Christian.”. You develop good habits by changing your identity. How do I change it? You change your identity by changing what you do. The most practical way to change who you are is to change what you do. You just keep going soul winning long enough, you just run enough times, you just sit down at that piano enough times or with that violin enough times, you just keep doing what you want to be and eventually it’ll become part of your identity. So you change your identity by changing what you do.
There’s another way to change your identity. Go to Proverbs 13. The first truth this morning to develop good habits, to change your identity, how do you do that? You change your identity by changing what you do. There’s a second thing you can do to help change your identity. You change your identity by changing what you do. You also change your identity by changing who you spend time with. The closer we are to someone, the more likely we are to imitate their habits. Proverbs 13:20 “20 He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”. See, when you walk with wise people, you end up being wise. When you walk with foolish people you end up being destroyed. Why? Because the closer we are to someone, the more likely we are to imitate their habits.
Here’s the truth. We don’t choose our earliest habits. We imitate them. If you ever look at children with their parents and talk to those children, you’ll notice that those children sound like their parents. The guys that we train to preach here at our Church especially the ones on staff, they are often told “You sound like Pastor Jimenez.”. We don’t choose our earliest habits. We imitate them.
Proverbs 27:17 “17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”. See, your friends will determine the quality and the direction of your life. You young people, please listen up. If you don’t listen to preaching often, your friends will determine the quality and the direction of your life. You will be like the people you spend time with. The closer we are to someone, the more likely we are to imitate their habits. By the way, this is why the drunkard on the job, this is why the drug addict on the job, this is why the blasphemous person on the job, this is why the vulgar person on the job shouldn’t be your friend. We should be nice to them but as you draw close to people, you become like them. We imitate their habits.
Young people especially need to understand this. If you want to grow up to be a Daniel, if you want to grow up to be a Joseph, if you want to grow up to be a David, young people need to have the fortitude and the strength to walk away and stay away from their peers. Let them make fun of you if you choose not to fellowship with them. They are going to be fools that will be destroyed. He that walketh with wise men shall be wise. Let them call you names or make fun of you. Don’t worry about that. You realize that the closer you are to someone, the more likely you are to imitate their habits. And if their habits are no good, stay away. Why? Because you change your identity by changing who you spend time. Anyone can float downstream. It takes strength, character, integrity and energy to say no. It takes energy to say “No to the movie. No to the music.”.
You realize that the people you spend time, you will imitate them. So spend time with the right people. Your friends will determine the quality and direction of your life. If you want to be a fool then hang out with a bunch of fools. If you want to be wise, get around wise people. By the way, it works in every area of life. You want to be financially successful, get around financially successful people. You want to be broke then hang out with broke people. You want to be fat then hang out with fat people. You want to be healthy then hang out with healthy people. It works in every area of life. You change your identity by changing who you spend time with.
We must change our identity to develop good habits. We change our identity by changing what you do. You change your identity by changing who you spend time with. The closer we are to someone, the more likely we are to imitate their habits. And let me just say this about who you spend time with. Nothing sustains motivation more than belonging to a group. We as human beings want to belong to groups. We want to be part of a community. That’s why social media works so well. Social media works so well because everybody wants to be part of a group. The Bible tells us that God already gave you a group that you should belong to. It’s called the local New Testament Church.
1st Corinthians 12:18 “18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.”. Let me just fill you in on something about the local New Testament Church. It’s very important to the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact it’s so important that the Bible says the Lord Jesus Christ died for the Church. The Bible says that Jesus is the head of the Church. The Bible says that Jesus builds the Church. The Bible says that Jesus is the Church, he is the body of Christ.
1st Corinthians 12:18 “18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.”. The body here is referring to the local Church. That’s the analogy that’s being used here. “The members” is referring to “the body parts” that have been placed in the Church. And we would call these Church members. If you are a member of Verity Baptist Church then let me explain something to you. If you’re a member here, then guess who brought you here? God brought you here. God set the members in the Church. Notice these words “as it hath pleased him.”. Maybe you feel like “I’m going to find this other Church or other Pastor I like more.”. But realize that you didn’t find this Church but God placed you at this Church. 1st Corinthians 12:24 “24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked.”. Tempered means mixed together. Here’s the truth: Your identity becomes linked with those who you surround yourself with. So surround yourself with God’s people.
Go to Acts 2. Please don’t misunderstand me. I do believe that there are times when God moves people and it’s time for people to move and they go and they find another local independent Baptist Church. Or maybe you get a job offer in a location but there is no good Church there. I would say that it is not God’s will for you to move there. Why do I say that? Because the local Church is God’s will for your life. If there is a good Church in the area you are moving to then praise the Lord. But let me say that you shouldn’t be flippant about Church attendance and Church membership. As we just read, God has divinely placed you where you find yourself.
Acts 2:47 “47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”. Notice how it says that the Lord added to the Church. I hope that I am communicating this in the right way and you take this the right way. Sometimes people come to a Church like this and say “I believe Verity Baptist is the greatest Church in the world.” not because of your Pastor or Pastor’s wife but because of you. Sometimes people come to a Church like this and think “The preaching is great. The fellowship is great. The counseling is great. Everything’s great. People are great. The homeschool group’s great. But it’s in California.”. If you move to another location that you like more, you’re not going to find all of these things. Churches are different. Not every Baptist Church is created equal. Don’t have this idea “Well the Pastor and his wife spend time with us and take us out to eat and write thank you notes but I can find that anywhere.”. Not all Churches are going to treat you that way. God has divinely placed you here. “The Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”.
Here’s the goal you should have for every convert of yours. You should have a goal of discipleship and Church membership. Why? Because you change your identity by changing who you spend time with. The people you spend time with are likely to influence your habits. And nothing sustains motivation more than belonging to a group. By the way, that’s why when people say they are just going to go soulwinning on their own then it’s very hard to sustain for a long period of time. It’s easier when you show up on a Saturday morning like we had yesterday morning and had 111 people show up. There’s just something about belonging to a group that helps. Nothing sustains you like belonging to a group. So make sure you belong. How do you change your identity? You change it by changing what you do and by changing who you spend time with.
Remember we talked about it last week that two are better than one. All I’m telling you is to find somebody to live life with, and I’m not just talking about a spouse although that’s a good place to start, find people that are going in the same direction you want to be going. Start hanging out with those people. Start talking to those people. Start fellowshipping with those people. And you might find that you start being like them and they start being like you. Your identity begins to change.
Number one. To develop good habits you must change your identity. Number two to develop good habits you must renew your mind. Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”. If you are going to develop good habits, you must renew your mind. Renewing your mind simply means reframing our thoughts. When we talk about renewing our minds, and this is a concept found all throughout the Bible, we renew our minds by reframing like putting a picture in a frame. To reframe would require you to take it out of the frame and put it in a different frame. You’ve got to reframe your thoughts. That’s all it means to renew your mind. You’re transformed by the renewing of your mind and you do that by framing your thoughts.
Let me just kind of explain to you something about habit and habit development. What is it that you’re really trying to do when you develop a habit? And again, it’s really easy for us to develop bad habits and really difficult to develop good habits. So think of this in the context of a bad habit. What is it that you’re trying to do when you develop a habit? I mean what was it that you were trying to do when you started smoking? When you started drinking? When you started doing drugs? See, when you perform a habit first of all, your initial give in, you probably gave in because you were hanging out with people that were smoking and drinking and doing drugs. Let’s be honest, your friends will determine the quality and direction of your life. Then it became a habit or addiction and what you are doing is fulfilling a craving. What you really want is to feel different because fulfilling a craving is a sense that something is missing. It’s discontentment. You feel an urge, you feel a craving and what you’re feeling is discontentment as if something is missing.
You usually feel a craving or that sense of discontentment after perceiving a cue. We’re going to talk about that next week when we talk about breaking bad habits. What does that have to do with reframing your mind? See, renewing your mind means reframing your thoughts. We reframe our thoughts to change our behavior. The idea is that when you reframe your thoughts, you’ve really got to just start thinking differently about whatever it is that you want to change. Let let me show you again from the Bible and then I’ll give you some examples.
Ephesians 4:22 “22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;”. Ephesians 4:24 “24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”. Between these verses is verse 23 “23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;”. See, you’ve got to remove, you’ve got to renew you’ve got to replace. The renewal needs to happen in the midst of behavioral change. What does that mean? You can make good habits more attractive by reframing the habit to highlight their benefits and not the drawbacks. So what does that mean? When we associate discipline with sacrifice, we tend to dread it. But when we associate it with a benefit, you may find you begin to look forward to it.
For example, going running on a treadmill for 30 minutes might be something that you dread doing. But if you reframed your thoughts, if you renewed your mind to say “I don’t like it but I like the benefit that comes with it.”, when you make that habit more attractive, by reframing the habit to highlight the benefit not the drawbacks then it becomes easier. See, if you’re trying to save money and you only focus on the negative such as not being able to go out to eat or get coffee then you will feel like you can’t do it. That is why your habits fail. You are focusing on the negative. If you instead focus on the money you are able to save and the ability to go to a vacation in the future then it will be easier. You need to reframe your thoughts.
All I’m saying is renewing your mind is just focusing on the positive and not the dread of the sacrifice but the benefit. When we associate discipline with sacrifice, we tend to dread it. When we associate the benefit, you may find you begin to look forward to it. When you wake up and say “I’m going to be healthy by changing what I do. I’m going to get on that treadmill. I’m going to get on that elliptical. I’m going to do that workout routine.”. You might find you actually start looking forward to it. Don’t focus on the sacrifice. Focus on the benefit. Here’s what I’m telling you. People who develop good habits realize that with the change in their behavior they must change their identity. They realize that with the change in their behavior, they must renew their mind. They must refrain their thoughts. They must stop looking at the dread and the sacrifice of what they’re trying to stop doing. They focus on the benefit of why they want to.
Let me give you a 3rd one. Number 1 – To develop good habits, you must change your identity. Number 2 – To develop good habits you must renew your mind. Number 3 – You must purpose in your heart. In Daniel, we have a young man that did not give in to peer pressure. He was not a dead fish flowing downstream. How’d he do it? Was he special? No. But he did have a purpose. Daniel 1:8 “8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”. By the way, Daniel was not alone here. Daniel had been taking captive with all sorts of young people and all these young people had been told that they were going to have to defile themselves with the king’s meat and with the drink that the king offered them. All of them gave in but not Daniel.
Would to God that we had some Daniels around here who stand up and decide to do right no matter what everybody else does. What was the trick of Daniel? Daniel purposed in his heart. See, to develop good habits, you must one change your identity. Number 2 – Renew your mind. Number 3 – You must purpose in your heart. This is what sociologists call “intention implementation”. You’re looking at biblical intention implementation in Daniel 1:8. Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with a portion of the king’s meat. Let me read to you an article about “Intention Implementation” to help you understand better. This article explains why “Intention Implementation” is more important than motivation. Because we feel that getting motivated is really important but it’s actually not as important as intention implementation.
“Many people want to make a habit of exercising consistently. And that’s just an easy example. Researchers have discovered that while many people are motivated to work out i.e. they have desire to work out and get fit, the people who actually stick to their goals do one thing very different from everyone else. In 2001 researchers in Great Britain began working with 248 people to build better exercise habits over the course of two weeks. The subjects were divided into three groups. The first group was the control group. They were simply asked to track how often they exercise. The second group was the motivation group. They were asked not only to track their workouts but also to read some material on the benefits of exercise. The researchers also explained to the group how exercise could reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and improve their heart health. Finally there was the third group. These subjects received the same presentation as the second group which ensured that they had equal levels of motivation. However, they were also asked to formulate a plan for when and where they would exercise over the following week. Specifically each member of the third group completed the following sentence during the next week. ‘I will partake in at least 20 minutes of vigorous exercise’ and they picked a specific day and time. After receiving these instructions, all three groups left. In the 1st and 2nd groups, 35 to 38 percent of people exercise at least once per week. Interestingly the motivational presentation given to the second group seemed to have no meaningful impact on behavior. But 91% of the third group exercised at least once per week more than double the normal rate simply by writing down a plan that said exactly when and where they intended to exercise. The participants in group three were much more likely to actually follow through. The researchers discovered that what pulls that desire out of you and turns it into real world action isn’t your level of motivation but rather your plan for implementation. The punch line is clear. People who make a specific plan for when and where they will perform a new habit are more likely to follow through. Too many people try to change their habits without these basic details figured out. We tell ourselves I’m going to eat healthier; I’m going to write more but we never say when and where these habits are going to happen. The simple way to apply this strategy to your habits is to fill out this sentence ‘I will fill in the behavior at this time and location. Intention implementation is you purposing in your heart, deciding in your heart you’re going to do it and making a plan to do it.”.
There are two types of Christians in this world. Those who read the Bible and those who don’t. What is the difference? There might be lots of difference but honestly I’m talking about people that are saved. They both have the same Holy Spirit, same Bible but what is the difference? Somebody decided to read the Bible at a set time and a set place where as others don’t. Here’s all I’m telling you. If you’re going to decide to go to your wedding day pure, you can live it up to chance or you can “purpose in your heart” to maintain purity. You need to “purpose in your heart” not to drink alcohol, not to watch or listen to garbage on the tv or internet. To develop good habits, you have to purpose in your heart. You have to purpose in your heart to become a soulwinner. You have to purpose in your heart to have a prayer time with God.
If you wake up every Sunday morning and ask yourself “Am I going to go to Church today?”. Half the time you’re not going to make it. But if you purpose in your heart to go to Church every Sunday morning, then that decision is not up for debate when you wake up in the morning. I made a decision a lot time ago not to miss Wednesday evening service so I don’t have to make that decision at 5 pm right before Church. You say “Well you’re the Pastor of the Church”. But years and years before my wife and I were in any full-time ministry, we decided a long time ago if the house of God is open we will be there. Intention implementation. Purpose in your heart. There was never the discussion at 5 pm on Wednesday night of whether or not we should go to Church. The decision had already been made.
Here’s all I’m telling you. Some people follow through with developing good habits because they make a choice. They purpose in their heart. They decide to be a faithful Christian, a disciple of Jesus Christ, to read the Bible every day, to pray every day, to be faithful to Church, to be a soulwinner, to exercise, to read outside literature. Whatever it is you’re trying to develop, you must purpose in your heart. Even if it’s a habit as small as flossing your teeth. To develop a good habit, you must purpose in your heart. It’s called intention implementation.
Maybe some of you are thinking “This sounds harder than I expected.”. Because I started with 2nd Corinthians 5:17 “17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”. Maybe you thought that this is great because God is going to do it for me. Maybe you thought “Before I was saved I was lazy and unemployed but now that I’m saved I’m going to be a hard worker and get a good job.”. Or maybe you thought “I was a jerk before I was saved but now that I’m saved I will becoming very patient and kind.”. I will let you in on a secret. God will do it eventually. It’s called your death or the rapture.
Maybe you say “But I want to live a good life now.”. Then you need to start walking in your identity. You need to decide in your mind to change your identity. How do you do this? You change who you are by changing what you do. You change who you are by changing who you spend time with. You need to decide to renew your mind and reframe your thoughts. You need to quit focusing on what you’re losing and dread and start focusing on the benefits that will come. You must also purpose in your heart. You need intention implementation.
Some of you need to make this for your Bible reading, prayer time, church attendance. Young people need to make some intention implementation about not being worldly. It’s that simple. Remember last week that people look at Joseph and Daniel and Esther and they think overnight success as if they came out of nowhere. However, they didn’t. They identified themselves a certain way, they thought a certain way, they purposed a certain way. And that’s why they’re successful. And you can too. God is no respecter of persons. You can be as successful as Daniel or Joseph or David or Esther or any other Bible character that you can think of. If you begin to walk in your new identity, begin to reframe your thoughts and your purpose in your heart.
Let’s pray.