2 Peter 1:3-11
I. Bound by Bad Habits
We all have our quirks and oddities. We are all a bit strange (some of us more than others). I always laugh when someone talks about being average or typical. There is no such thing. There are things about our lives, however, that can become binding, habits that cause pain or can have terrible consequences.
Years ago when the western U.S. was being settled, roads were often just wagon tracks. These rough trails posed serious problems for those who journeyed on them. On one of these winding paths was posted a sign which read: “Avoid this rut or you’ll be in it for the next 25 miles!”
II. What makes a habit?
“A habit is something you can do without thinking–which is why most of us have so many of them.” Habits are those things we do over and over again that become part of our routines of life. Habits don’t form overnight.
An elderly teacher, with a pupil by his side, took a walk through a forest. Suddenly he stopped and pointed to four plants close at hand. The first was just beginning to peep above the ground, the second had rooted itself pretty well into the earth, the third was a small shrub, while the fourth was a full-sized tree. The tutor said to his young companion, “Pull up the first plant.” The boy did so eagerly, using only his fingers.
“Now pull up the second.” The youth obeyed but found the task more difficult.
“Do the same with the third,” he urged. The boy had to use all his strength to uproot it.
“Now,” said the instructor, “try your hand with the fourth.” The pupil put his arms around the trunk of the tall tree and couldn’t even shake its leaves. “This, my son, is just what happens with our bad habits. When they are young, we can remove them readily; but when they are old, it’s hard to uproot them, though we pray and struggle ever so sincerely.’”
Many of the habits we have today were formed many years ago, some of them even as young as childhood or in our teenage years.
Samuel Johnson said, “The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.”
Bad habits are like comfortable beds–easy to get into but hard to get out of.
III. What keeps us bound to bad habits?
1) Physical: chemical dependency, brain synapses patterns are formed
2) Emotional: Fears, memories of past relationships, feelings of guilt or betrayal.
3) Spiritual: sin is a power that traps.
These habits need healed and/or broken. We need to deal first with the spiritual need:
1) Spiritual: First, take care of the sin problem and your relationship with God. If you experience an inner change, it will affect what happens outwardly (Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:2).
2) Emotional: Find a new source of personal identity and worth in things of God, including Christian friends and a vital church body.Professional counseling can be great but if the spiritual problem is not resolved, the emotional problems are only temporarily healed.
3) Physical:
a) Seek the help of God
b) Seek the help of Others
c) Distance yourself from one holds you down.
IV. How can we change our habits?
1) God has given promises
2) We must make every effort add virtue to our faith.
3) When we are headed in the right direction, we will find these qualities increasing
Developing Holy Habits
1) Flee from sin and flee to God. 2 Peter 1:4; 1 Timothy 6:11
2) Change the direction and the environment in which we live. Matthew 12:43
3) Set a new direction
4) Saturate yourself with the things of God (Philippians 4:8)
What holy habits look like:
2 Peter 1:5-7: with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
Promises for holy habits:
2 Peter 1:8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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