Today, I decided I’d had enough of trying to do something with my unruly hair. Settling into the ‘hair chair,’ at the beauty parlor, I told the beautician of my struggle. Since I’d moved from NC to Florida, my hair “do” had become a hair “don’t” and I didn’t have a clue how to fix it.
Running her fingers through my hair, looking from every angle, she finally pronounced, “I know exactly what you need, I can fix it. But you’re going to have to change what YOU are doing in order to keep your hair from going back to the way it was to start with.” Oh, my, you mean–I– have to do something?
Whenever a change is made, some more changes need to take place in order to keep from going back to the way it was. That’s good old fashioned common sense! It’s the same way when I accept Jesus and begin my Christian walk. I have to not only stop bad behavior; I have to replace it with good behavior, or, I’ll return to my old ways.
How long does it actually take to form a new habit to replace an old one? It takes an average 66 days to form a new habit, according to new research by Phillippa Lally and colleagues from the UK Health Behavior Research Center, based at UCL Epidemiology and Public Health.
Life style changes must be reinforced daily in order to be ‘locked in.’ Further, a negative life style has to be done for the same amount of days in order to be reinstated. So, in spite of what satan whispers to me; ‘backsliding’ isn’t slipping up on me when I’m unaware. Only if I CONTINUE to sin, have I lost my victory.
I John 1:9 tells me that if I DO sin, God is faithful to forgive me of my sin. But, I John 3:9-10 further instructs that if I love God, I will not continue to sin. Hebrews 6:4-8 warns that if I accept Christ’s atoning blood then continue to sin, I crucify the son of God all over again! Think about that for a moment. THAT is quite a wake up call.
God sends His Holy Spirit to convict me of sin and lead me in the way of righteousness. It is up to ME whether I choose to follow that path of righteousness–or not.
I can’t keep doing what I’ve been doing and expect to see the fruits of a Godly life just ‘happen’. Doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results is—-foolish.
I Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
Prayer: Father, help me to live each moment of my life in awareness of my new life in Jesus. Every day, make me aware of what returning to sin–means to–you.
Scripture References:
I John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
I John 3:9-10 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.
Hebrews 6:4-8 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance.
To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.