Josh McDowells Youth Devotions BAD HABITS. Do you have any bad habits? Check out the list below. Do you chew your fingernails? chew your toenails? chew carpenters nails? interrupt when others are talking? pull out your hair? pull out someone elses hair? grind your teeth? insult people? forget to say please or thank you? lose your temper? put things off until later? eat too much? eat too little? watch too much TV? pick your nose? pick someone elses nose? smoke cigarettes? smoke cigars? smoke old tires? gossip about other people? other? Maybe you didnt check any of the items on the list above. Maybe you checked them all! Either way, you probably have at least one bad habit-something you do that is rude or thoughtless or undesirable. Nobody is totally free from bad habits. Sometimes our bad habits are sinful. Sometimes theyre just annoying. And sometimes-as Esau found out (in todays Bible reading)-they can really be hurtful and costly. Whatever bad habit you may have, you dont have to be stuck with it. It may take a lot of self-control, but you can overcome it. In fact, thats one of the reasons God wants you to learn self- control. His Word commands us to be clear minded and self-controlled (1 Peter 4:7, NIV). God wants you to be like him. He is always in control of himself and of the universe he has made. And no matter how strongly rooted your bad habits may be, God is able and willing to help you overcome them. He will help you, through the power of his Spirit, to learn and exercise self-control. REFLECT: Did you have any of the bad habits in the list above? Think of three bad habits youd like to get rid of. Choose one of them and start asking God for help to use self-control in overcoming that problem. PRAY: Father, you know that Im weak in the above areas. But you are strong. Please help me to overcome my bad habit... in your strength. Genesis 25:29-34 [#reading_1] Ephesians 5:1 [#reading_1] [] Genesis 25:29-34 MSG29-30One day Jacob was cooking a stew. Esau came in from the field, starved. Esau said to Jacob, “Give me some of that red stew—I’m starved!†That’s how he came to be called Edom (Red). 31Jacob said, “Make me a trade: my stew for your rights as the firstborn.†32Esau said, “I’m starving! What good is a birthright if I’m dead?†33-34Jacob said, “First, swear to me.⠀ And he did it. On oath Esau traded away his rights as the firstborn. Jacob gave him bread and the stew of lentils. He ate and drank, got up and left. That’s how Esau shrugged off his rights as the firstborn. Ephesians 5:1 MSG1-2Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that. 8-10You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You’re out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true—these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it. 11-16Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It’s a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ. Wake up from your sleep, Climb out of your coffins; Christ will show you the light! So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times! 17Don’t live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants.
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 09:16:49 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015