Bad Habits

One day a young man, came to my house in a disturbed mood. I asked him a few questions about his family and about his ministry. He answered all my questions, and was not very open. He seemed to be very much confused. So I came to the conclusion that he was having some personal Spiritual problem that he was hesitant to share with me.

I knew that young man from his college days. Ten years back I met him for the first time in a conference, at that time he studied in a government college, and was an active leader of the prayer group in his college. He was the first convert from his place. He led a few of his relatives to the Lord. I had seen him in many programmes in the past.

He had completed his studies, and was looking for a job. He actually came to see me to get my help to join a Christian organisation. I asked him about his Spiritual life. Then he told me that he was not spiritually alright, and was having a problem of not able to overcome a bad habit. He had fasted and prayed, and found it very difficult to leave the bad habit. He hated the habit but he was enslaved by the habit as the Bible says in Jn 8:34 “Jesus answered them, truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin”. I prayed for him, and suggested a few practical steps to overcome his bad habit, which is masturbation.

The nature of bad habits: All of us must know that we are the creatures of habits. We start doing certain things, like this young man, and after some time, it becomes a habit. Thus bad habit is additive in nature. 

Different types of bad habits: What is a bad habit? Bad habit is any habit which hinders or affects our Spiritual growth, peace of mind, health and others. A bad habit is one which is opposite to a good one. Evil thoughts, fantasising, masturbation, pornography, envy, jealousy, bitterness, lying, criticism, gossiping, anger, quarrelling, procrastination, gluttony, laziness, drinking, smoking, and swearing are some of the examples of bad habits.

Many people who are now addicted to these bad habits, are the victims of ignorance. In the beginning they started doing it because it gave them some satisfaction and pleasure. But later they find them to be harmful and want to get rid of them. There are some believers who are enslaved by one or some of these bad habits and it hurts them very deeply, spoils their witness and affects their ministry. They find it very difficult to share their problem with others and they suffer silently. Let us study the qualities of bad habits, and the solution to overcome them by studying about one common bad habit among young people. 

Masturbation: ‘Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary’ gives the meaning of masturbation as ‘stimulation, usually by oneself, of the sexual organs by manipulation, so as to produce orgasm. Another word used for masturbation is self-abuse. The Bible does not teach anything on this bad habit. Some people refer Gen 38:8-11 and I Cor 6:9 to condemn vehemently masturbation. Gen 38:8-11 deals with Onan’s failure to obey the ancient Hebrew law, which expected a person to beget children by the widow of his dead brother. It does not condemn masturbation. King James Version translates one of the sins, in I Cor 6:9 as “abusers of themselves”. But now all Bible scholars agree that it is a wrong translation, and the correct translation of this word in I Cor 6:9 is ‘homosexuals’. 

Some people say that masturbation is not sin, since that sin is not named or condemned in the Bible. Arguments based on silence of the Scriptures are very dangerous. Many bad habits like smoking, reading sexual novels, and seeing blue films are not mentioned in the Bible, and that does not mean that they are not sins. Any habit that is bad, abnormal and affects the Spiritual life is a sin, and must be forsaken. It produces depression, guilt feeling, fear, anxiety and makes one spiritually weak. So how can one deal with it? Here are a few practical suggestions. 

1. Accept your inability to overcome the bad habit. “O wretched man that I am ‘who will deliver me from the body of death” Rom 7:24.
2. Believe that Jesus can help you. ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’ Phil 4:13 and ‘Now Jesus is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of His glory with rejoicing’ Jude 24. 
3. Know that you can be a conqueror over the habit through Jesus Christ.“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” Rom 8:37
4. Never permit the bad habit to create guilt feeling, depression, anxiety and self-pity. But humble yourself, confess, and approach the throne of grace to obtain mercy. “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” Heb 4:16.
5. Confession also includes repentance and deciding in the heart not to do it again, and taking positive steps to overcome it like Daniel. “But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s rich food, or with the wine which he drank; therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself” Dan 1:8.
6. Use the principle of ‘put off’, ‘being renewed in the mind,’ and ‘put on’: By surrendering your mind to the Lord, you can deprogramme your mind and get a renewed mind. “Put off concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the Spirit of your mind and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in righteousness and true holiness” Eph 4:22-24.
7. Never put a full stop to your ministry, Bible reading, prayer, attending the church and having fellowship with other believers because of the bad habits. These Spiritual activities will help you to walk in the Spirit and not indulge in bad habits, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh” Gal 5:16. Also guard your eyes and ears to prevent the negative input which will feed the bad habit. “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” Gal 5:24.
8. Resist the tempter and hide the Word of God in your heart: “Therefore submit to God. Resist the Devil and he will flee from you” Js 4:7 and “Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you” Ps 119:11.
9. Deprogramme your mind with ‘axing process’: ‘Axing process’ is a psychological method to deprogramme the deep rooted desire in your mind for the bad habit. In this method, whenever you are tempted by a particular bad habit, you must say to yourself “It is sin. It is harmful to my spiritual life. It affects my witness and ministry. It makes me miserable. It does not really satisfy me. It hurts Jesus, who loves me. I will not do it. I will not do it. It does not satisfy. It makes me miserable and I won’t permit it”. Since your mind plays a major in craving for the pleasure of your bad habit, say aloud the above statements to deprogramme your mind. 

Another way of ‘axing process’ is to say loudly the Word of God relevant to the temptation, when tempted. When Jesus Christ was tempted in the wilderness, He used three Bible verses from Deuteronomy to overcome the three temptations Matt 4:4, 7, and 10. The Word of God is the offensive weapon provided by the Lord to overcome your bad habit Eph 6:17.

10. Select good habits in the place of old ones, set goals and give rewards for victory. “Not that I have already attained or am already perfected; but I press on… forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” Phil 3:12-14.

Never be lazy and alone, but exercise regularly; mix with people and do things with real people-building inter personal relationships. This will build your self-image, and make you depend on God and His word for victory.