ADVICE DAD NEVER GAVE YOU

Ralph Sorter

   The problem with bad habits is that they keep revisiting us.  Like a debt collector that won’t take “go away” for an answer, they return again and again until the debt is paid.  Consider this:  Bad habits are easier to abandon today than tomorrow.

   What contributes to their revisitation is self-deception.  Every time we do it again, we strengthen it.  But we think this will be the last time and we won’t have to fight it again.  Why do you think it’s called a “bad habit”?!  They are practiced all too frequently.

   Therefore the cure will come the sooner it is abandoned…today…not tomorrow.  James 4:14 says, “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”  If life vanished away from you this moment, would you want that bad habit associated with your soul?  Thinking you always have tomorrow is a thought of the fool.  It’s better to heed the caution that they are easier to abandon today than tomorrow.

   Helen Keller overcame great obstacles; not just being blind, but also the opinion that the blind were a handicap to society and had nothing to contribute.  Boy, did she ever prove them wrong!  This woman of great accomplishment said, “We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough.”

   Sounds like good advice when it comes to conquering bad habits.  So how is it practically applied?  Make a pact with your mind that you are determined to conquer this bad habit as if your life depended on it.  Every time it crops up it’s ugly head, persevere to overcome it as if failure in this area will bring instant death.

   Too radical?  Then consider these words: "And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into the fiery hell.”  (Mat. 18:9)

A Message from HOPE’S

Marriage & Family Ministry

ADVICE DAD NEVER GAVE YOU

Ralph Sorter

   The problem with bad habits is that they keep revisiting us.  Like a debt collector that won’t take “go away” for an answer, they return again and again until the debt is paid.  Consider this:  Bad habits are easier to abandon today than tomorrow.

   What contributes to their revisitation is self-deception.  Every time we do it again, we strengthen it.  But we think this will be the last time and we won’t have to fight it again.  Why do you think it’s called a “bad habit”?!  They are practiced all too frequently.

   Therefore the cure will come the sooner it is abandoned…today…not tomorrow.  James 4:14 says, “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”  If life vanished away from you this moment, would you want that bad habit associated with your soul?  Thinking you always have tomorrow is a thought of the fool.  It’s better to heed the caution that they are easier to abandon today than tomorrow.

   Helen Keller overcame great obstacles; not just being blind, but also the opinion that the blind were a handicap to society and had nothing to contribute.  Boy, did she ever prove them wrong!  This woman of great accomplishment said, “We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough.”

   Sounds like good advice when it comes to conquering bad habits.  So how is it practically applied?  Make a pact with your mind that you are determined to conquer this bad habit as if your life depended on it.  Every time it crops up it’s ugly head, persevere to overcome it as if failure in this area will bring instant death.

   Too radical?  Then consider these words: "And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into the fiery hell.”  (Mat. 18:9)

A Message from HOPE’S

Marriage & Family Ministry

ADVICE DAD NEVER GAVE YOU

Ralph Sorter

   The problem with bad habits is that they keep revisiting us.  Like a debt collector that won’t take “go away” for an answer, they return again and again until the debt is paid.  Consider this:  Bad habits are easier to abandon today than tomorrow.

   What contributes to their revisitation is self-deception.  Every time we do it again, we strengthen it.  But we think this will be the last time and we won’t have to fight it again.  Why do you think it’s called a “bad habit”?!  They are practiced all too frequently.

   Therefore the cure will come the sooner it is abandoned…today…not tomorrow.  James 4:14 says, “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”  If life vanished away from you this moment, would you want that bad habit associated with your soul?  Thinking you always have tomorrow is a thought of the fool.  It’s better to heed the caution that they are easier to abandon today than tomorrow.

   Helen Keller overcame great obstacles; not just being blind, but also the opinion that the blind were a handicap to society and had nothing to contribute.  Boy, did she ever prove them wrong!  This woman of great accomplishment said, “We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough.”

   Sounds like good advice when it comes to conquering bad habits.  So how is it practically applied?  Make a pact with your mind that you are determined to conquer this bad habit as if your life depended on it.  Every time it crops up it’s ugly head, persevere to overcome it as if failure in this area will bring instant death.

   Too radical?  Then consider these words: "And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into the fiery hell.”  (Mat. 18:9)

A Message from HOPE’S

Marriage & Family Ministry