Change Habits With The Right Motivations

“Now my friends, I want to say this to you. Fill your minds with thoughts about good things. Think about things that are true, clean, right and lovely. Always think about things which people know are very good.” Philippians 4:8 EASY

Mental renewal usually involves two halves: the death of something and the resurrection of something new. It’s never one-sided.

This is also what makes Christianity what it is today. If we only focus on the death of Christ, then we won’t be renewed by the power of His resurrection.

Many times to change habits and how we see certain things, we only focus on what to kill because it’s a problem…

• I need to stop being indisciplined.
• I need to stop sleeping too much.
• I need to stop being lazy at work.

On the flip side, we also focus solely on what to awaken, without recognising the problem…

• I need to become more disciplined.
• I need to wake up earlier.
• I need to work harder.

None of these work in isolation. Sometimes, you’re not willing to kill that problem because you haven’t seen the benefit of the solution.

We hold on to old, self-destructing habits and it looks like we can’t change because just focusing on what you want to change into isn’t enough.

You can’t stop being indisciplined if you don’t understand the transformation that discipline will give you. Knowing you have to be disciplined isn’t enough.

You can’t stop being addicted to sleeping if you don’t realise how waking up early helps you have a more productive day. Just saying you must wake up early will seem like punishment.

You can stop being lazy if you don’t understand how hard work will help you excel at work. Just telling yourself you must work hard will make you scared of the work itself.

To understand the benefits of the habit you want to awaken, any of the following can work:

• Check the meaning of the word in the dictionary.
• Use Google to discover articles written about that new habit
• Read case studies of important people who had the habits you want to develop and see how they were transformed
• Examine yourself and point out how you can be transformed once you change your habit
• Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what your research won’t.

Changing habits is difficult. But whom you’re changing into has to look more appealing than who you are now. The desire for a new YOU will make the difference.