Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Healthy Living”
Our Bible verse for today: “For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate.” Romans 7:15 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “To achieve healthier lives which are better balanced we need new habits.”
Have you ever felt like Paul did when he wrote Romans 7:15? He was essentially saying, “I know what I need to do, and I really want to do what I’m supposed to do, but I keep doing the thing I hate! What is wrong with me?!”
We’ve all felt that way, probably many times. Old habits are hard to break. Someone once said, “Good habits are hard to acquire but easy to live with. Bad habits are easy to acquire but hard to live with.”
Amen! I have some bad habits I would love to get rid of and you probably do too. Maybe the bad habits that need to change involve diet and exercise; or they could be financial in nature; or they could pertain to how you relate to other people; or it could be something about the practice of your faith; and there are lots of other possibilities.
But making real and lasting changes in our lives is never easy. Forming new and better habits to replace the old and destructive ones takes time and discipline. The good news about good habits is that the longer you practice them the easier they get. Soon they become so much a part of your regular routine that you feel odd and out of synch when you aren’t doing that good thing. If exercise becomes part of your daily routine then you will miss it on those days you don’t exercise. If prayer and Bible reading is a regular part of your morning, then you will feel funny and empty on the days that you skip it.
Tomorrow we will consider five things we can do to replace bad habits with good ones and then to incorporate those good habits into our lives so they become change that lasts.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 