{"id":17662,"date":"2019-05-08T07:07:53","date_gmt":"2019-05-08T07:07:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=17662"},"modified":"2019-05-08T07:07:53","modified_gmt":"2019-05-08T07:07:53","slug":"habits-a-christian-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=17662","title":{"rendered":"Habits: a Christian perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tope Banso<\/strong>
\n\u201cBut I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified\u201d (1 Corinthians 9:27 New King James Version).
\nAccording to researchers at the University College London, it takes an average of 66 days to form a habit. This varies from person to person and the behaviour in question. The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary defines a habit as a thing you do often and almost without thinking, especially something that is hard to stop doing.
\nHabits are formed through a regular repetition of a behavior until it becomes an established pattern of behaviour. You become what you practice. Your habits determine what you become. You can\u2019t want to become something but cultivate contrary habits.
\nIf your present habits are contrary to what you hope to become, change your habits and cultivate the habits compatible with what you desire to become. Have you seen a great athlete? He cultivated the habits that made that possible. Paul said, \u201cBut I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified\u201d (1 Corinthians 9:27 New King James Version).
\nLuke 5:16 says Jesus often withdrew into the wilderness for prayer. That was a great habit. On the other hand, the Pharisees had hypocritical prayer habits (Matthew 6:5). Jesus did many mighty works; none was credited to them! Luke 4:16 and Acts 17:2 record that Jesus and Paul had the custom or habit of going for services in the synagogue. Where do you go habitually? Evil company corrupts good habits (1 Corinthians 15:33).
\nWhat are you becoming? Jesus called Judas to be an apostle, but he eventually became a thief and a betrayer (John 12:6). It’s not what you claim to be that is important, but what you\u2019re becoming, which is determined by your habits.
\nJeremiah 13:23 says the people of Judah were accustomed to doing evil. In Jeremiah 22:21, the Bible says they had been disobedient from their youth. What are your habits? What are you becoming? Replace bad habits with Godly habits (Ephesians 4: 22-29; 1 Corinthians 5:7-8).
\nDon\u2019t let sinful habits have dominion over you (Psalm 19:13). The starting point for you is to give your life to Jesus, if you haven\u2019t. Admit that you’re a sinner and you can’t save yourself. Repent of your sins and invite Jesus into your heart. Confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Ask Him for the power to live a new life in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17).
\nYou need a renewing of your mind, which is only possible through continuous exposure to God’s Word (Romans 12:2). Therefore, Join a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching church where you\u2019ll be taught the Word of God. Read your Bible, daily and pray everyday. Whatever you behold, you become (2 Corinthians 3:18).
\nYou may be a pastor, an entrepreneur, a politician or any other thing, but what are you becoming? Your habits determine what you eventually become.
\nPRAYER POINT: Father, help me to cultivate habits that will make me become all you want me to be.
\nThis is wisdom for living, and it\u2019s worth sharing. Please share.
\n(For more inspiring messages, visit: www.cedarministry.org).
\n\u25aa Banso, an Abuja-based minister can be reached at Cedar Ministry International, cedarministryintl@yahoo.com, cedarministryng@gmail.com<\/strong>
\nTel No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523 <\/strong>
\nWhatsApp No: +234908129G5947<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Tope Banso \u201cBut I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified\u201d (1 Corinthians 9:27 New King James Version). According to researchers at the University College London, it takes an average of 66 days to form a habit. This varies from person […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":17663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17662\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}