Habits that begin early in life are not easily broken. They say, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” When you think a thought twice it forms a line in the memory bank of your brain. If you rehearse it long enough, it becomes a crease resulting in a behavioral pattern.
A change of conduct requires a consistent effort of repeating the new action for a period of at least twenty one days. Take the habitual use of profanity, for example. There is a split-second opportunity of decision before the words become air-borne. The alternative is to stop! Choose to delete curse words from your vocabulary. If you continue making it a deliberate routine, it will eventually become an automatic way of life. What bad habits do you need to break?
Ecclesiastes 8:5 (AMP)
“…A wise man’s mind will know both when and what to do.”
Practical Application and Assignments:
Frank Outlaw said, “Thoughts become words. Words become decisions. Decisions become actions. Actions become habits. Habits become character. Character becomes destiny.” Most of our habits, good or bad, were influenced by the examples we followed growing up.
- Take an honest inventory of your behavioral patterns. Do you have bad habits or addictions that you do not want reproduced in your children or grandchildren? How many of these habits were modeled by your parents or grandparents?
- Refuse to pass them on to the next generation. A habit is formed by a repetitive practice. Make a decision to break the sub-conscious pattern. A “mind-set” begins with a thought process which results in a course of action. To change your behavior, you have to change your thinking. It requires determination.
- Change a habit. Make a commitment to begin a new habit or discontinue an old habit for at least three weeks. Actually, only “perfect practice” makes perfect, so be careful what you practice.
“A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure.” Proverbs 16:9 (AMP)
