Have you ever had a bad habit that you wanted to break? It’s hard and generally requires that a good habit be practiced over a period of time to replace the bad habit. When I was a child I used to mindlessly suck on my fingers. But I loved baseball. My dad took me to a baseball game at Dodger Stadium not long after it was opened. I loved the whole experience. My dad told me that we could go to a game again, but only after I stopped sucking my fingers. I was motivated. So I began sitting on my hands so that I wouldn’t mindlessly suck on my fingers. Guess what? It worked and I went back to Dodger Stadium frequently.
That was a relatively easy habit to break. Some habits are not quite so easy to give up, like lying, stealing, lustful thoughts, violence, addiction, and cheating. These are deeply ingrained behaviors that God calls sin. They take over our minds and bodies so that we can’t stop sinning.
The good news is that Jesus Christ shed His blood as a sacrifice to the Heavenly Father, so that these chains that bind us are broken. We can be set free by accepting Jesus’s sacrifice on our behalf. We don’t have to return to these sinful ways, so we can live in victory over them. Galatians 4:9 says, “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?” Enjoy the freedom that trusting in our Savior Jesus Christ brings. Turn away from the sins that hold you captive to live freely in Him.
Reluctant Retiree 