How to Overcome Sinful Habits: 5 Insights
Do you feel defeated as you continue to stumble into the same sinful habit repeatedly? Maybe you feel like you’ll never find victory in this area of your life. Today, I invite you to join me as we discuss how to overcome sinful habits for good.
How to Overcome Sinful Habits: 5 Ways
I stand in front of the cupboard and stare blankly. I’m not hungry, but this cupboard is the place where I come for escape when the kids are fighting and the walls are closing in. I admire the cheese curls and decide this is not the night to break a bad habit I’ve carried for decades.
I indulge.
The cycle of my escapist eating continues, and I feel trapped and ashamed.
Perhaps you can relate. Maybe you’ve been trying to overcome a destructive habit for decades, but you can’t seem to find freedom.
Let’s look at five practical ways to turn to God in these moments of temptation as we ask him to help us change.
How to Overcome Sinful Habits
How do we break bad habits? Here are just a few thoughts:
1. We ask God to align our hearts with his heart toward these behaviors.
Nothing breaks a habit like becoming so sick of it that there seems to be no choice but to give it up.
This is often how God works in our lives.
The apostle Paul was sick of his sin when he penned these words to the Roman church: “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Romans 7:19).
When we can readily admit that our sinful flesh makes us miserable, we are ready to agree with God and try to give up the habit. We can begin by praying that we’ll become too sick of the behavior to continue in it.
Ask God to align your heart with his heart so that you loathe the sinful habit. This is the first step as we aim to learn how to overcome sinful habits in our lives.
2. We focus on the negative consequences instead of the short-term rewards.
While a half-gallon of chocolate ice cream might seem good at the moment, wisdom asks what the implications are for tomorrow.
If physical discomfort comes from a habit, focus on the discomfort that will come tomorrow instead of the temporary pleasure of indulging today.
Our behaviors hold natural consequences, and it is by God’s grace that he allows us to feel the weight of our sins.
Consider whether coveting expensive things will fill you up or deplete you. Consider how the things that go into your body will make you feel in the near future. Natural consequences can be a strong deterrent when it comes to breaking bad habits. Instead of focusing on the immediate reward of indulging, focus on how you’ll feel in an hour, a day, or a week.
3. We learn how to overcome sinful habits by turning to God in our weak moments.
God calls us to turn to him when we are weak.
When our defenses are down, and we long to give in, he waits for us to call to him. He reminds us that his power is perfected in us when we admit our weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:10).
God enjoys giving wisdom to those who ask (James 1:5). We are to turn our eyes to him in our weakest moments and seek his deliverance.
God has promised not to tempt us beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). Stand on this promise as you ask him to help you overcome the sinful habit you want to break. He will show you a way out. Watch for it.
4. We replace unhealthy behaviors with healthy activities.
One of the best strategies for changing a behavior is to replace it.
We can replace our unhealthy habitual patterns with healthy patterns. A short walk is a healthier stress relief than eating a bag of potato chips. An intellectually stimulating book is healthier than an addiction to video games.
God has promised never to let us face temptation without providing a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13).
We can join him in this work by planning enjoyable replacement activities for the times when we know we’ll be tempted to indulge in unhealthy habits.
I enjoy reading gardening magazines for relaxation. I’ve learned that “getting lost” in a gardening magazine is a much healthier escape than getting lost in a bag of chocolate chips.
Your replacement activity doesn’t have to be ultra-spiritual; it simply needs to be enjoyable.
5. We overcome sinful habits with accountability.
Finally, shining light on the hidden habits in our lives often unleashes the power to set us free.
When we bring our secrets into the light, the transforming power of the Holy Spirit is already working in us to bring us freedom.
Whether it’s seeking accountability from a friend, or seeking professional counsel to overcome a long-term addiction, walking the journey with a trusted follower of Christ can make all the difference.
When we bring our secrets into the light, the transforming power of the Holy Spirit is already working in us to bring us freedom. #badhabits #freedomfromsin #HolySpirit #accountability Share on XGod desires to see his children living in abundance and freedom from sin (John 10:10). Christ died to set us free from sin once and for all. While sinful habits may not die easily, we begin by standing in agreement that the victory is already ours, and we step into that victory one step at a time.
8 Bible Verses to Help You Break Free From Sinful Habits
Additionally, we can overcome sinful habits when we speak and soak in the following truths.
1. 2 Timothy 1:7, ESV
For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
If you are a follower of Christ, he lives in you. God has given you a spirit of power and self-control. Speak this truth when you feel tempted to indulge in your bad habit.
2. James 1:14-15
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
Remind yourself that sin gives birth to death.
Indulging in your habit might feel good in the moment, but it will not lead to the life you desire.
3. 1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
At times, we fall into sinful habits because we tell ourselves, “I’ve already messed up. I might as well continue.”
Instead of indulging in sinful behaviors after moments of failure, we find freedom when we confess our sins and ask God for the power to rise above temptation.
4. Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
We rise above sinful habits as we allow God to renew our minds.
God’s primary tool for renewing our minds is his written Word. Speak the verses I am sharing with you today. Memorize them. Stand on them when you feel weak. In the process, God will renew your mind.
5. 1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
God promises not to let us be tempted beyond what we can bear.
Do you feel tempted? Look for a way out. God has made the way.
6. James 4:7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Satan tempts us to sin because he comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
Sinful behaviors are enticing, but they always cause destruction in our lives. Remind yourself that when you resist temptation, Satan will eventually flee.
7. 1 Timothy 4:12
Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
God has called you to set an example in the way you speak and act.
Remember this: Someone is always watching. Are you representing Christ well?
8. 1 Corinthians 6:19
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.
Never forget that God has given you a body to care for and steward. Meanwhile, your body is not your own. You are a temple in which the Holy Spirit dwells. Are you honoring God with your body?
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Parts of this post were originally published at Desiring God.
