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(and many think that describes
them) are not really free of habits.
They merely develop their own
idiosyncratic habi ts.
What we call human personality,
in its broadest sense, is to a large
extent a composi tion of thousands of
individual and specific habit traits.
Humans are compounds of various
habits. Thoughts a human thinks are
not habitual, of course, but patterns
of thought very much tend to
become habitual. So rne people
develop sound thought pattcrns;
others are habitually scatterbrained .
The capacity to form habits is
possible with most higher living
things. But the way the marvelous
human mind was created with the
spirit in man, humans, more than
any other creatures and more than
we care to admit , are creatures of
habits- habits of thinking, habits
of acting, habits of feeling.
Unique in Habi ts
Ou r individual habit patterns show
up not only in how we pronounce
words, but in ou r general altitudes
and demeanor in life.
It
shows up in
how we cope with anxiety.
Sorne, as a resul t of learned hab-
it, develop a perpetua! frown ,
others exhibi t a quick temper,
others fearfu lness, hostility or
suspicion. Others are habitually
more open, loving, friendly and
exude confidence.
We develop differing, even
unique, habils in our hand,
lerns, so we le nd lO resisl any
change in our accuslomed routine,
even if it is in our best interests to
do so.
Too often humans are slaves to
bad habits.
lt
takcs strong charac–
ter to break bad habits!
Animals could never survive for
long in nature if they developed
many of the bad habi ts humans do.
We may smoke, abuse alcohol, mis–
use sex, pop pills, overeat, underex–
e r c ise or develop emotionally
destructive feelings and remain
alive, though we are still slowly kill–
ing ourselves as individuals. By these
bad habits we are limiling or crip–
pl ing our human polcntial and devel–
opment. Many bad habits are, in
fact, what the Bible calls sin! They
involve violation of God's great spir–
ituallaw, the T en Commandments.
Bad habits reinforced by chemi–
cally addicting substances- nic–
oti ne an d certai n d rugs, for
instance-are vcry hard to shake.
A habit is a
learned pattern of
acting or
thinking or feeling.
body and posture movements.
Di fferent dietary and appetite ,..,_,
It
is not a
pattern we were
boro with, as
many lower
creature
responses are.
habits are acquired. We develop
differing feeling ha bits-what
makes us feel good or bad, what
produces fear and apprchension
and how and to whom
respond sexually.
All of these are learned.
We do not inherit these
specific traits.
Even rcpcated successes
or fai lures in life are often a
matter of habi t ; they result from a
repeated way of respondin g to
problems and challenges in lifc.
Negati ve Side
Habits free us to learn new things.
T hey also make it difficult for us to
change establ ished ways of doing
things, or thínking or fee ling. Hab–
its lock us into certain response pat-
28
But habits damaging human emo–
t ions and attitudes can also be very
difficult, at times even more diffi–
cult, to change.
T ragically, whole nations can get
locked into wrong habits of eating,
act ing, thinking and feeling.
Over coming Wro ng Habi ts
Who hasn't been a slavc to bad
habits? Who hasn't carelessly
allowed .bad habits to take deeper
and deeper root in his or her mind
and emot ions?
Improving your life- physically,
mentally, emotionally or spiritu–
ally-is largely a matter of chang–
ing or overcoming bad habits. ll is
a matter of dcveloping new, better
and more dominating habit pat–
terns of thinking, acting and feel–
ing.
There are absolutely fundamen–
tal requirements and essential steps
thal must be applied to replacc a
bad habit wi th a good one. Many
lose sight of such essentiaJ steps
because of heavy demands on their
minds or time or because of dis–
couragemcnt from past fai lures to
overcome sorne nagging habit or
vice.
The first law of changing any
wrong habit is:
J.
ADMIT W HAT YOU ARE OOING,
OR THI NKING OR FEELING I S
WRONG ANO HARMFUL.
In bibJicaJ
terminology this is the first step in
repentance.
(O f course, this de–
mands the right standard of deter–
mining right and wrong. And this
requires a knowledge of God's
law.)
l t is impossible to change with–
out taking this step. So many fail
because they never, deep down in
their minds, squarely determine or
admit what they are doing or think–
ing is wrong. They will not admit to
themselves that they eat too much,
or drink too much or are addicted
in a damaging way to sorne pract ice
or th inking. They justify their pres–
ent ways and refuse to see any dam–
age they are causing to themselves
or others- until serious conse–
quences strike them.
You- not
someone else-must
be convinced you should change!
You must
want
to c hange a bad
habit!
After this crit ica! slep is taken,
other essential steps are req uired.
You must then:
2.
POWERFULLY RESOL VE TO
CHANGE ANO QUIT TH E WRONG
HABIT IMMEOIATELY.
This, in bibJi–
caJ terminology, is the second step
in repentance. Don ' t put off a deci–
sion. You cannol expect success
with a hal fhearled or weak effort.
You musl be strongly motivated lO
change. Grasp the consequcnces or
The PLAIN TRUTH