How to Conquer Old Habits

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work.
Philippians 4:1

Old habits are terribly hard to break. As soon as you attempt to bring some necessary balance into your life, you are going to have a fight on your hands. After all, self has had its way for years. Giving you the freedom to laugh again and bring some needed joy into your life is not on self’s agenda.

No matter. This invisible master needs to be brought back under the authority of Christ if you ever hope to laugh again. A life lived under the dominion of self is both unsatisfying and unproductive.

Here are a couple of suggestions for getting started:

First, control self’s urges to take the credit. When self reigns supreme, it lives for moments of personal gratification. Wean it away. Once you are able to see how out of balance you have become, you will have fresh strength to control its urges. Self needs to be bucked off its high horse.

Second, conquer self’s tendency to take charge. The longer you live the more you will realize the value of having Christ call the shots in your life. Not self, Christ. But that age-old battle will continue. Self wants to gain the mastery and convince you that it is a reusable source of energy. It is not. Self cannot be trusted. Any day you forget that and turn the controls over to self will be another day you will operate on strictly human energy, and you will lack the Spirit’s power.

If we hope to bring things back into balance—if we hope to change our habits of negative thinking, which leads to grumbling and a too-serious mentality—we’ll have to dethrone this master and give the right Master His rightful place over our lives. Not until we do, I remind you, will we begin to laugh again.