habits

Sweet Temptation

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings:
Psalms 5; 147:1-11, Jeremiah 18:1-11, Romans 8:1-11, John 6:27-40

Have you ever tried to give up excess sugar? At first it’s an unpleasant mixture of headaches, cravings, and fatigue. After a while those symptoms fade, and you start to feel pretty normal – maybe better than normal, without all the highs and lows of unsteady blood sugar. Eventually candy and soda may become so unbearably sweet on the tongue that you wonder how you ever enjoyed them in the first place. Your appetite changes, and you are better off for it.

The Apostle Paul tried to teach members of the Christian church in Rome about changing their appetites. He knew many of them still had more of an appetite for the flesh then the Spirit. When he tells them “those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit,” he knows they aren’t excited to give up their earthly habits cold turkey. He also knows that by practicing a life in Christ (and enduring a few resulting headaches and cravings) they will wean themselves off a taste for sin. Maybe they’ll begin to wonder why it was ever so appealing.

Years before Paul wrote to the Roman church, Jesus spoke to the Jews about an appetite change. The Pharisees wanted a sign from him, like the manna they ate while wandering the desert after fleeing Egypt. For a time manna was necessary for survival, but it was limited. Manna, gathered in the mornings, would not keep overnight and rotted away before morning.

Instead he offered them himself as the Bread of Life: “Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” To develop a taste for that bread, they would have to stop feasting on the law which they craved but could no longer sustain them.

To savor a better life, we must sometimes figure out which lesser appetites we have been feeding instead. Whatever sweet temptations we think we can’t live without, Jesus promises us something far better.

Comfort: God always has something better in store.

Challenge: Make a list of what appetites – social, physical, mental – you give too much priority. Then write down some goals and strategies for changing that.

Prayer: Abundant Lord, I wish to be filled with the Bread of Life. Amen.

Discussion: What’s your favorite food? Is it good for you?

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The Good We Want

/ JJS / Leave a comment

Image result for quotes about willpower

Today’s readings:
Psalms 34; 146, Jeremiah 17:19-27, Romans 7:13-25, John 6:16-27

Willpower.

We’re prone to judging people, including ourselves, as morally weak or strong depending on whether we believe they have a little or a lot of it. We blame poor willpower for addictions, eating disorders, bad habits, cowardice, and any number of human failings. Recent studies, however, indicate that reliance on willpower alone to change behavior may actually set us up for further failure. To understand a behavior is more than understanding what we do, but why we do it.

The Apostle Paul was ahead of the research on this one. He freely admitted: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate […] I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” He described his mind as a slave to God, but his flesh as a slave to sin.

Repenting of a behavior is more complicated than declaring, “I am done.” It’s unfair to expect that of ourselves. We owe it to ourselves and to God to take the time to understand why we gossip (or cheat or lie or whatever it is we wish to change). Repentance starts with a decision, but we may need to find ways to reinforce that decision every day – perhaps every hour – for a long time. Prayer is the best start, but we shouldn’t be ashamed to employ all the tools necessary to be successful. Those tools may include everything from daily affirmations to professional counseling.

We may need to physically alter our environment; if so, let’s think of that as a sign not of our weakness, but of our dedication. We may need to leave behind friends who undermine or mock our efforts. Backsliding may be part of the process. Willpower tells us backsliding is failure; repentance tells us backsliding signals time for another change of direction away from the darkness and toward the light.

Viewed through eyes of grace, our imperfections are not barriers between us and the divine, but invitations to more fully understand ourselves and our God.

Comfort: God’s love is unconditional. Yes, that was yesterday’s comfort as well. Repeat as necessary.

Challenge: Read this short article on changing bad habits, and maybe seek out others.

Prayer: Holy and forgiving God, thank you for being by my side both when I fail and when I succeed. Amen.

Discussion: What’s the most difficult habit or behavior you’ve broken?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group. You’ll  have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!

Maybe next time…

/ JJS / Leave a comment

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 54; 146, Judges 2:1–5, 11–23, Romans 16:17–27, Matthew 27:32–44

The book of Judges recounts the history of Israel between the time of Joshua’s death and the reign of Saul, Israel’s first king. The second chapter begins a cycle that repeats several times: Israel prospers, then grows lax and disobedient and God withdraws his favor; eventually the plight of the Israelites softens his heart and he sends a judge to set them back on the right track. Over a dozen times. We may or may not experience our fortunes and misfortunes proportional to God’s favor, but we can all find lessons in these stories.

One simple, yet important lesson: learn from your mistakes. For two centuries, the Israelites teetered on the brink of ruin multiple times, always for the same reason. It is easy to shake our heads at their stubborn foolishness, but we’ve all been there. Maybe relationship after relationship sours because we can’t change our ways. Maybe our weight boomerangs in a cycle of diet and despair. Maybe we repeatedly sabotage our job or education or finances because we cling to a particular mindset. Everyone has some story of an attitude or habit they had difficulty changing (or still need to). Most of us have more than one. Not everyone needs a twelve step program, but sometimes we all need to surrender to the higher power integral to success.

Another related lesson: neglecting our relationship with God has consequences. Perhaps not direct punishment, but consequences intrinsic to our behavior – a sort of “built-in” system of moral checks and balances. Christ and the prophets teach us to put God and our neighbor above materialistic concerns, yet advertising and other influential aspects of our culture tell us exactly the opposite. However, our novels and films abound with morality tales about the dangers of prioritizing wealth, popularity, vanity, etc. In these tales, people nearly always either arrive at a bad end or save themselves by repenting. Could these stories be popular because they strike a chord of truth within us? By nurturing our relationship with God, we can focus on priorities that deliver a true abundance, an abundance of the spirit.

Comfort: Like the north star, God helps our path stay true if we follow him.

Challenge: Change one part of your routine today and observe the effects.

Prayer: Merciful and loving God, my heart is set on you. Amen.

Discussion: What habits have you found hard to break?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group. You’ll be notified of new posts through FB, and have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!