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or to give up and keep smoking,
overeating or indulging in sexual
lusts can seem overwhelming.
The apostle Paul described this
st ruggle with sin this way: "For
the good that 1 would 1 do not:
but the evil which
1
would not,
that
1
do. Now if
1
do thal
1
would not, it is no more
1
that do
it, but sin that dwelleth in me"
(Rom.
7:19-20).
One psychologist terms the bat–
tle to overcome a bad habit as a
"struggle between the old and new
order." Habit forming is highly
conservative; change is profoundly
disturbing. Trying to change the
self into something different
threatens the self, and the self
sends up danger signals to
lry to get us to give up.
diately, not gradual/y.
Completely
halting the negative behavior
immediately is by far the most
effective- though sometimes diffi–
cult-method of breaking bad hab–
its.
You've read of heroin addicts
who tried methadone and ended up
addicted to methadone, or smokers
who tried to beat smoki ng by eat–
ing candy and ended up addicted to
candy.
There are far better ways to beat
bad habits!
For instance, a person may create
a new, competing habit to compete
with the old. But he should make
sure the competing habit he forms is
a positive one. lnstead of eating to
all-even if everyone around does
indulge. After all, the temptation to
overeal is goi ng lo be present
lhroughout life. One can'l elimi–
nate lhe templation-food- so
one's habil of abusing it musl be
changed.
•
When we have broken our hab–
it, we shou/d be willing to help
others who have the same habit.
When someone who has "been
there" helps someone who is sti ll
there, the motivalional benefits to
both are great.
Requires God's Help
All the steps outlined above are
part of one group's successful pro–
gram to combat wrong social hab-
We may be dieting or
trying to stop drinking to
excess or trying to quit
smoking. In every case
the self-wha t Paul
called the ..o Id man"
(Rom. 6:6)-tries to rear
itself. A large part of us
as human beings is pro–
grammed to resist
change.
Habituation is the natural
enemy of change ... Once a habit
its. These points can be
applied to overcome any
bad habit-again, howev–
er, only by someone who
really wants to change.
Changing from a nega–
t ive, harmful way of life
overall to a happy, pro–
ductive, outgoing way
involves changing human
nature, and that requires
the additional power of
God's Holy Spirit.
is ingrained, it
becomes invisible to the conscious
mind, and the brain ...
But we can change!
will notice only if we do something
different than we
God is interested in
developing strong, right
character in every one of
us. He wants us to live the
give
way instead of the
get
way, and the way of
God made us of matter so
we could. We humans
can, after deciding to
reject negative behavior,
learn to follow right ways
and ingrain these right .ways into
our minds and motivation. We call
this developing
character.
•
We must be convinced that
breaking the bad habit is worth–
whi/e.
Motivation is paramount.
As one authority has written: "No
one can master a habit who does
not want to and who cannot find
within himself or herself the
resources and the determination to
do so."
This, however, is not enti rely
true. To change from the selfish,
inflowing way of "get" to the way
of proper concern for ourselves
and true, outgoing love for others
ultimately requires God's help, in
addition to resources we find in
ourselves. But we must first want
to change. If we don't seriously
want to change our bad habits, we
never wi ll.
•
We must cease the habit imme-
February 1983
are accustomed to doing.
cure feelings of sadness, one could
jog or play a strenuous game of ten–
nis, for example.
Certain behavior modification
therapies attempt to wear out the
bad habit until personal disgust and
exhaustion weaken ils hold.
If
a
person is addicted lo a certain food,
the therapist may attempt to asso–
ciate the food with sorne unpleasant
experience. This is known as aver–
sion therapy. Its merits are debat–
able, though, in the absence of
slrong motivation on lhe part of the
person with the habit. As the old
saying goes, "A person convinced
against his will is of, the same opio–
ion still."
It
may be that a person will sim–
ply have to learn to tolerate a nega–
tive s timulus. For example, a per–
son prone to overeating may simply
have to steel himself against having
an extra dessert-or any dessert at
give
is the way to every happy,
wonderful result man desires.
No one who has been overcome
by bad, sinful habits-no one
incorrigibly steeped in a selfish,
harmful way of life-will ever
enter God's kingdom
(1
Cor.
6:9-
10) .
To fulfill God's purpose for us,
we must make sure that we "re–
cord" in our character the finest,
most positive, most beneficia! and
give-oriented habits possible, re–
jecting everything that harms, is
selfish or does not achieve righl
goals. For, in God's kingdom, there
will be no bad habits in God's fam–
ily!
When we live God's way we can
say with Paul, in response to life's
every challenge, including bad hab–
its, " 1 can do all things through
Christ which strengtheneth me"
(Phi
l.
4: 13).
o
17