Gtcotr/ws041118
Proverbs 9:1 Wisdom has built her house, She has hewn out her seven
pillars.
The
next few weeks we are going to work on building a pleasant and productive life.
We are God’s home in the earth and it is important that we pay some attention
to making a few self-improvements. Things left to
themselves don’t get better, they get worse. This evening we will begin
our Home Improvement Series by searching the Word of God to find strong supporting
scriptures that will help us Build Better Habits.
A
habit is something we tend to do without thinking – because we have done it so
many times before. Habits are formed by repetitive actions. Many habits,
especially the bad ones, were unintentionally created. Our habits are reflected
in our routine and while they are little more than unconscious reactions to us,
they can become irritations and even be offensive to others, especially when
others are following our example.
In
1982 a preacher named Jim Boswell challenged me to build better habits in my
life on purpose. He taught me that habits are one of the most underutilized and
yet, one of the most powerful personal assets we can possess. He told me that I
had both the opportunity and the ability to shape my life in any way I wished
by making and maintaining good, godly habits. I took his challenge and began
forming habits on purpose.
He
was right. It took me about six weeks of purpose-filled attention to break one
habit and form another in its place. Then I found that maintaining the desired
new habit for only six months made it my habit. After almost 40 years many of
those habits which I first formed on purpose continue to serve me and benefit
others. Our habits make us either more pleasing or less
pleasing to God and others.
So,
without further ado, let’s begin our search of God’s Word to find strong
supporting scriptures upon which we can Build Better Habits.
1. The Habit of Listening to Others
James 1:19 So then, my
beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
2. The Habit of Watching What We Say
Titus 3:2 Speak evil of no
one, be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.
3. The Habit of Humility
Matthew 23:12 “And whoever
exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
1 Peter 5
5 Likewise you younger
people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be
submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the
proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
6 Therefore humble yourselves
under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
7 casting all your care upon
Him, for He cares for you.
4. The Habit of Giving
Proverbs 19:17 He who has
pity on the poor lends to the LORD, And He will pay back what he has given.
Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will
be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over
will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be
measured back to you.”
5. The Habit of Prayer
John 14:14 “If you ask
anything in My name, I will do it.”
Genesis 19:27 And Abraham
went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD.
Mark 1:35 Now in the morning,
having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a
solitary place; and there He prayed.
6. The Habit of Attending Church
Luke 4:16 So He came to Nazareth,
where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue
on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
Hebrews 10:25 Do not forsake
the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but
exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day
approaching.
7. The Habit of Being A Witness
Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of
the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise.
Matthew 5:16 “Let your light
so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father
in heaven.”
It
takes six weeks to break a habit and begin a new one in its place. Then, if
purposefully continued for six months, the new habit will become your habit and
you will be prompted by the nature of your life to follow that established
routine. However, if you neglect a good habit for several weeks, you will
develop and be left with a new habit.
Build
Better Habits by paying closer attention to what you say, how you listen, what
you give, how you react, what you pray about, how often you attend Church and
your daily witness for Christ.
If
one of these areas speaks to your heart, decide right now and take action to find seven pillars of truth from God’s Word that you can
hold on to and build a better home for Christ in your life.
You
will have to be active and participate in the process of creating good, godly
habits. Make a commitment to identify those habits that you need to change and
then pray and ask God to remind you each time that opportunity presents itself
and make the conscious effort to replace it with a good, godly habit. Need some
suggestions on habits that might to change? Here are some considerations …
Facebook
– Family – Twitter– Bible – Snapchat – Prayer – Texts – TV???
