The Insufficient Help

You may have endeavored already to implement those ten principles and have plans and goals in place. Excellent! The Bible doesn’t say to not make plans; we are just to hold them loosely, knowing the Lord directs our steps (Prov. 16:9).

However, there remains a final aspect to this process: the source of our strength and help. As you embark on this journey, remember that the effects of behavioral modification are short-lived if underlying issues fester unaddressed. Goals, workbooks, journals, accountability groups, and New Year’s Resolutions can be useful tools, and seeking to replace unhealthy habits, even when we feel unmotivated or discouraged, can be beneficial. At the same time, what we need ultimately are not new patterns but a new community, a new Lord, and new loves.

Essentially, God’s will for us is not behavior modification but sanctification. Apart from His anointing Spirit, behavioral change is an empty pursuit. Our actions do not just need reforming; our minds need transforming. When this happens, and our hearts begin to beat to the rhythm of God’s desires, our words and behavior will follow suit.

Perhaps this is one reason for the sequence of Colossians 3. Here, Paul advises us to first seek and set our minds on things above (vv. 1-2) and then to put to death that which belongs to our earthly nature (vv. 5-7). We change not to become different, but because we are different, a chosen people and a holy nation. Because we have been raised with Christ, we are to seek things that are above, where Christ is (Col. 3:1). Because we have died with Christ, and He lives in us, we are to put to death that which is inconsistent with and put on what reflects the whole Person of Christ (Col. 3:10-17). The thief is to steal no longer but cultivate the habit of honest work so that he may be generous (Eph. 4:28). The grumbler is to complain no longer but cultivate the habit of gratitude, so that he may shine as a light (Phil. 2:14-15). A Spirit-directed focus is essential for change that will last and habits that will endure, and because we are in Him, we shed old habits of sin in exchange for the pattern of Christ.

Our world will say that we have everything needed within us to transform ourselves. Yet it is by faith that we overcome the world (1 Jn. 5:4). Our culture will advise us to draw from our inner strength. However, what we will find are broken cisterns (Jer. 2:13). As Paul declares to the Galatians, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:3). In other words, God has begun a good work in you, which He will complete (Phil. 1:6). He who wills and works for His good pleasure will provide the strength (Phil. 2:12-13). Why turn again to old ways and resources? As Christians, we are victorious not because we are strong, but because we are weak, and like Paul we delight in our weakness not self-deprecatingly but because we recognize our inability as an opportunity for Christ’s power to be perfected in us.

Breaking an ingrained unhealthy habit is a noble quest, and disappointment is inevitable. However, rather than lingering in such dismay, redeem it as a reminder to turn your eyes upon Jesus. He is the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith (Heb. 12:2) on whose power we rely and apart from whom we can do nothing (Jn. 15:5). We can sometimes think of forming even good habits as drudgery. However, let us rejoice in the joy set before us and “boast all the more gladly” that through us God’s power might be revealed (2 Cor. 12:9).

In the same vein, beware of discouragement that will lie to you, saying that one misstep has already ruined this pursuit. No, my friend, for His mercies are new every morning (Lam. 3:23). Keep going, even if your feelings do not follow. Entrust your way to the Lord, and He will provide (Ps. 37:5, 1 Cor. 10:13). The fruit of godly habits takes time to ripen. Give yourself daily grace, for you cannot give yourself more grace than He has already given you, and His heart is tender toward the humble and contrite (Is. 66:2). You are accepted not because of your performance but because of your Christ (Rom. 15:7). Your weakness is an asset, and your shortcomings do not define you; your King does.

Old literature frequently uses the term “habit” to refer to a kind of dress or garment. A lady’s riding habit, for example, prepared her for the act of riding. Similarly, habits as we normally think of them fit, prepare, and equip us for the activities of life. The question is, for what are our habits preparing us? Good habits must be maintained, and bad habits replaced. Are our habits soiled, smeared, or torn, or do we take care to preserve this garment of grace that it may serve its intended purpose?

Vigilantly preserve the habit that will fit you for God’s good work (Eph. 2:10). It can take months—sixty-six days on average—to change a habit, but people and habits vary. Do not give up! Habits develop around what we continue. Be joyful always, for example, and pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:16-17). Persist that you may know Him (Phil. 3:10) and know that even the unseen is seen by God.

Abraham Lincoln once noted how “discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.” Remember what you want most and remind yourself daily of your joyful confidence in the greater reward (Heb. 10:35). Divert your eyes as needed from the goal of developing a habit and seek first His kingdom and His righteousness not with grand vows to do better but patiently and contentedly, one moment and sacrifice at a time (Matt. 6:33). Finally, celebrate each victory, and thank God, for all that we have accomplished He has done for us (Is. 26:12).

By forming good habits — for instance, by making a beeline to the Bible in the morning, by praying at meals and at regular points throughout the day, and by meeting together with the body of Christ —

we position ourselves in the paths of God’s grace.

–David Mathis