5 Ways to Kick a Bad Habit in the New Year

Consider Why We Have the Bad Habit to Begin With

Whether it’s relying too heavily on food or entertainment for comfort, or intangible habits like negative thinking, so many bad habits form because of thoughts outside of God’s. Before taking any action steps to break a habit, consider praying and meditating on how the habit formed to begin with. How did it all begin? Why and when do we tend to resort to the patterns we’re trying to veer away from? So many problems and bad habits stem from thought patterns that are out of alignment with him. If we don’t have total surrender and peace in every area of our lives, that area will manifest negative behavior that’s out of God’s will for us. If we find ourselves “needing” to fall asleep to the television, or developing a nervous tick if we don’t check Facebook 30 times a day, it helps to ask the Holy Spirit to help us understand where those feelings stem from to begin with. Otherwise we might see the habit resurfacing again, even in a different form, if we don’t get to the root of the problem and seek healing.

Ask For the Desire to Quit

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How many of us have tried to either change a bad habit like over eating or watching too much TV, or attempted to start a positive routine, like reading the Bible every morning, and lasted like a nanosecond before reverting to our old ways? We’re all guilty of this to some degree, but I wonder how much easier it would feel and how much more success we’d see, if we spent more time asking God for the desire to change, to begin with. This is at least half the battle. If we’re trying to give up something negative, it’s absolutely God’s will that we succeed, so it will happen…eventually. The problem is, we give up so quickly, and become so easily get discouraged after the second third, fourth week of falling off our respective wagons. We might sometimes feel guilty for constantly asking for more faith and belief that we can change, or more desire for right living, but God doesn’t see it this way. And when our desires change, our actions will follow- sometimes just at snail pace.

Prayer Makes All the Difference

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This can be especially true when we’re trying to kick a habit that affects us spiritually. Whether it’s decreased alcohol consumption, or committing to more pure lifestyle, prayer is always key. When you find yourself tempted to weaken or feeling less enthusiastic about the good habit you’re trying to form, acknowledge your doubts, and give your thoughts to the Lord. The enemy wants to make this complicated because he know the more we’re bogged down with bad habits or a lack of good living patterns, the more joy and freedom he’ll steal from us. But when we pray under pressure or weakness, the Lord promises to be with us, and to help. There’s always a way out, as outlined in 1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT, “And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.” God never calls us to a good work without equipping us, but we’re not meant to do it alone. Every single time you falter, pray for strength and resolve. Even if it takes seemingly constant prayer, it’s worth the victory.

Keep the Faith, Even When We Falter

Belief that we can make our desired change is also huge. Consider thanking God ahead of time for helping you start that good pattern or overcome a habit, even while you’re still struggling. We can’t just memorize verses like “nothing is impossible for those who love the Lord,” and then surrender to Netflix binging the third day when things get tough. It can be difficult to persevere, but the more we believe God has our back, and cares about even the smallest minutia of our journey, the more power and stick-to-itiveness we’ll see. It’s so easy to feel like a failure, or a hypocrite when victory takes longer, but sometimes God lets us struggle a while, to work out the kinks and properly prune us. He wants to increase our trust and dependence on him, for our highest good, which might not necessarily happen, if we were instantly delivered, or given instant victory in our struggles. Just trust that God will see us through until we’re free, and it’ll feel better than we even hope for.