During my transition period (between paying jobs and seeking God's BEST for my life) I have been challenged to change habits. These are things in my life that are not necessarily sinful but at the same time I feel checked to stop them.
First of all, I have had a lot of bad habits in my life. One of them that started early for me was the habit of chewing my nails. I discovered that I inherited a high A personality which over the years caused me to deal with anxiety in a myriad of ways. The first that I can remember is chewing my nails. When I became a teen I discovered that the nicotine in cigarettes would calm my nerves. Throughout the years of my life I have used various outlets to deal with anxiety that comes from a driven personality. One by one I have changed these habits only to pick up something else to replace it. My nails today are long and need regular manicures. I quit smoking years ago. But even in my mid life I continued to have habits. Not terrible things, but certainly not things that are the best for me.
Because of the transition I am in right now I find that I have more time than usual to do what I want. There is no one to put demands on me and I spend days writing (which can be a lonely profession I am discovering.) I still have a driven personality and have times where I deal with anxiety. Today I had a moment like that and I started to think about ways I could calm myself. Exercise, eat, write.....and escape. I'm not comfortable staying in one place for long. The house can become very small very quickly and my need to drive something (lead, direct, etc.) was weighing on me. I could have gone shopping. That is something I think alot of us women do. We shop out of boredom, or a need for something new, or a need to jolt ourselves out of our mood. You may have something else. I know alot of women who read habitually, or watch television habitually, or turn to other negative ways to deal with anxiety. And many of us do it on the sly. We don't want anyone to know. We hide it - it is something only done in the privacy of our home or car or somewhere we won't be recognized.
Those of us that are married, or those who have been married or have a committed partner would not dream of cheating. Today I was thinking about things that people do in private. We are never in private really. God sees everything and knows every thought. There are habits we have that are not pleasing to Him. There are habits that allow us an escape from who we are in Christ that must be banished. I would not dream of cheating on my husband - and yet I cheat my God every time I choose something that I know is not good for me. Trash tv, trash novels, trash internet, eating, self obsession. I cheat God every time I use my time talent and treasure for anything other than proclaiming His Name or serving others in His Name. We reconcile this cheating by saying "Well I just spent all this time on this project or that project and now I will take a little me time." But what we are really saying is that I will take a little escape from Jesus.
If we are to be Christ-like disciples, then we are to model ourselves after Christ. Paul said "I take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. " 2 Cor. 4-5
Here are some examples of how God thinks, and how we allow ourselves to think.
.
| GOD's Thoughts | DEVIL's Thoughts | |
| Truth | Lies, Negative, dishonesty, lying, deception | |
| Honest | Dishonest, secretive, controller, manipulative, gossip | |
| Pure | Unclean, sinful, filthy | |
| Just | Victimized, distrusting, comparison, self-righteousness, questioning God | |
| Lovely | Ugly, Self-hatred, hardness, unloving | |
| Good Report | Gossip, slander, judgment, criticism, filthy communicaton, blasphemy, wrath, malice, anger | |
| Virtuous | Cowardly, proudful | |
| Praise | Unthankful, unbelieving |
**Borrowed from Life Application Ministries shttp://www.mindsync.com/lam/Session8.htm
When we do anything in secret we are cheating God. There is only one thing that God declares we should do in secret. "Pray to your Father who is in the secret place, and every public thing in your life will be marked with the lasting imprint of the presence of God." (Oswald Chambers)
If we do anything in secret that we would not want others to see - we are cheating and cheating dishonors God and discredits our life as a Christian.
Dearest Heroines - don't allow the trauma of change in your life to drive you to secret things. Remember that you can overcome through the power of the Holy Spirit and He will allow you to break that secret habit that robs you of your best life in Him.
Don't allow change to give you permission to do those things that you should not be doing. Don't waste your life in old habits. Let God have His way in your transition and make every moment count for Him. When you need to retreat for rest - do that. Rest. Go to prayer in your secret place and God will reward you in secret.
**Cathy is a professional writer, speaker and worship leader. You may contact her at cwoolaway@yahoo.com or at 217.521.2070.
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