By Did you know that over 40% of our daily actions are not made by conscious decisions but rather our habits? There’s no doubt about it – habits play an important part in our lives!
A habit can be defined as a repeated pattern in our behavior and is something which we do often and regularly. Once a particular habit becomes a part of you, it also becomes a part of your character. This is why it’s so important that we take a close look at some of the bad habits we might be doing in our daily lives and seek God’s help in breaking them.
Here are 5 bad habits we need to drop:
1. Not Making Time For God
“If you find yourself a bit irritated or overwhelmed, it’s a sign that you’re spending less time with God and more time with this world.”
“If you don’t have time to pray and read scriptures, you are busier than God ever intended you to be.”
“You define what is important to you by what you dedicate your time to.”
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well
Matthew 6:33
So many of us lead busy lives. We have jobs, relationships, kids to take care of and several to-do lists – it seems as though our responsibilities are endless. It’s easy to fall into the trap of putting some of these things above God, but this will only lead to you eventually experiencing a burnout.
A few signs of a burnout include:
- Feeling drained, worn out and unable to cope
- Spiritual strain and disconnection from God (thoughts like “I don’t feel God. God has abandoned me”)
- No motivation or drive to do anything
- Emotional numbness – You no longer feel the “highs” & “lows”
- You become impatient and angry over little things
- You find people or socializing draining
- Nothing satisfies you
A burnout is often the result of self-reliance. The best way to avoid this is to identify things you are putting before God and start doing the opposite. Be intentional (this might mean waking up half an hour earlier) about inviting God into your schedule first thing in the morning. This will be your biggest time saver because what He will reveal to you in the early hours will not only shape the rest of your day, but it will give you direction as to what tasks you should take up today and which ones are not urgent.
2. Making Excuses
When it comes down to it, we can make excuses for anything. It’s really not that difficult. There’s always an excuse if you’re looking for one. We can play the blame game and blame others for our wrongdoings instead of taking responsibility for our actions. We can make excuses for our laziness, procrastination, not sharing our faith, not reading the Bible, etc.
This also includes making excuses for yourself as to why you can never do something or making excuses for the bad behavior and disrespect you allow other people to give you. The point is that making excuses is a bad habit we must break if we want to see the results of God working in our life.
Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.
George Washington Carver
3. Spending Too Much Time on Social Media
Spending too much time on social media will not only cause you to procrastinate, but it will also make you view God’s plan for your life as something not as important or significant. Why? Because we compare it to the false realities that social media exposes us to.
Another obvious problem with spending too much time on social media is that it opens the gates to comparison. Nobody will display their struggles, pain or insecurities on social media. What ends up happening is we’re comparing our real selves, our real lives, with a fake edited picture-perfect life we see on social media.
Social media can be a blessing by giving us the opportunity to spread the Gospel further than ever before and connect with people. However, more often than not, we tend to focus more on the followers, likes and making sure we have “good status” online than anything else.
Break this bad habit by setting a time limit for how long you will allow yourself to be on social media, what you’ll watch while you’re on it and maybe even consider a short temporary break from it altogether in order to reconnect with God, break the comparison cycle, conquer your fear of missing out and be in the present moment.
4. Busy Doesn’t Mean Productive
Don’t fall into the trap of believing that by being busy you are being more productive. Over scheduling yourself and having too many commitments (to the point where you can’t even keep up) just leads to a burn out – which is counterproductive!
You are also prone to making poor decisions when you feel overwhelmed and are mentally tired or worn out. The solution? Honor God’s command and set aside a sufficient amount of time to rest. It’ll restore and balance you!
5. Bad Stewardship
Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much
Luke 16:10
How are you taking care of what God has given you responsibility over?
How are you taking care of your spiritual gifts? Are you stewarding over them well and working to improve and be the best you can be in them?
How are you stewarding over your finances? Are you making smart decisions about where and how you will spend your money? Or are you quick to do some shopping therapy and only waste it on worldly pleasures?
It’s important that we break the habit of not stewarding well over what we currently have. No matter how small or insignificant it may seem, God cares about how we are taking care of what He has entrusted us with. If God can trust you in the small things then He can trust you with greater things later on (Luke 16:10).
God may want to use you in a great way, but that would require you to be a good steward over what you have now.
Consider how you are currently treating those “small things” in your life that God has entrusted you with. What if your public blessing is determined by your private obedience, integrity and stewardship over what God has currently given you?
In Conclusion
If you find yourself stuck in some of these bad habits, turn to God in prayer and ask Him to help you develop a plan on how to break them. It may also be helpful to write down some negative consequences these bad habits could have on your life as well as some of the positive things that can result by breaking them. Don’t forget to soak in the Word of God as this will make it easier to truly renew your mind and thoughts (Romans 12:2) as well as break those bad habits!
Romans 12:1-2
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 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.
As fallen sinners the grace and mercy we have received from God is without comparison and in the light of God’s amazing love towards each one of us, we are encouraged to offer our bodies; our lives; ourselves – our very being as a living, breathing, holy sacrifice to the Lord. We are saved entirely because of God’s wonderful grace.
There is nothing we can do to repay God, but surely in the light of its eternal glories and benefits we can offer ourselves to Him – in love and gratitude, by presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, for this is our spiritual worship