Habits

Judges 13:1

And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

The children of Israel had found themselves in a rut of a bad habit that they seemed to struggle to overcome. Their habit was to do right for awhile, experience God’s blessings, and once the blessings came, they did evil again by turning away from the LORD to other gods. You would think they would learn from the hurt this habit caused, but they never did. They continually went back to this habit to their own detriment and hurt.

Many people find themselves with habits that often hurt them. The thing about a bad habit is that it is as easy to do a good habit as it is to do a bad one. We often seem to listen to the voice of the bad habits that they won't hurt us this time only to find out that the voice lied to us again. My friend, your habits determine your future. If you want to have a good future, you must establish good habits in your life so that the fruit of those habits can be enjoyed. Let me give you several actions you need to take to establish good habits in your life.

First, every habit starts with a decision. You decide to do good or bad, but that decision is what starts the habit. Every bad habit has been started by a bad decision, whereas every good decision has been started by good decisions. You can establish good habits in your life by choosing to make good decisions.

Second, it takes determination to establish good habits. Bad habits are easy to establish because they feed the flesh. However, a good habit does not feed the flesh; therefore, you must be determined to establish good habits in your life. You will never find yourself having good habits without a determination to do right no matter how difficult it may be.

Third, it takes repetition to establish good habits. Doing good one time will not establish a good habit, but it is accomplished by repeating the good over and over again. They say you must do something for twenty-one days to establish a habit. I don't know that this is factually true, but I do know that you must repeat the good without stopping for it to become a good habit. The reason you must repeat good habits is because you are retraining your mind not to do the bad ones. Never get tired of repeating the good if you want to establish good habits in your life.

Fourth, spend time with people who have good habits. You are who you spend time with; therefore, you must spend time with those who have good habits to establish them in your life. Proverbs 27:17 says, Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. Your friends do determine your habits, so you must have a good friend base if you want good habits.

Fifth, you must yield your flesh to the control of the Holy Spirit to establish good habits. Just as bad habits are a result of yielding to your flesh, so good habits are a result of yielding to the Holy Spirit. You will never fail to establish good habits in your life if you continuously yield to the Holy Spirit. The moment you want to stop doing the good habit is the moment you must stop and yield yourself to the Holy Spirit. Good habits can become a way of life if you do that good long enough, but it will only be accomplished through the power of the Holy Spirit.