Old habits are very very very hard to break. If you did not understand that, they are extremely hard to break.
So how do you break them? The sarcastic response is one day at a time. It is eating an elephant one bite at a time.
The real answer is you pray to God and ask for Him help.
I use to be addicted to online computer games like WOW, UO, Everquest, Guild Wars 2, Lord of the Rings, Shroud of the Avatar, Dungeon and Dragons Online, Elder Scrolls Online, and others. I aksed God for help, He did, and now I almost hate them.
The key is to recognize that you have a problem. Once you understand that you are addicted, then do something. That is the time to ask for help from God. Sure you could try to do it on your own, but that never works for the most part. Also, if you think you never have a problem then it really does not matter.
Take my brother-in-law. He is addicted to drugs but refuses to acknowledge that he has a problem. He thinks that he can take them and stop at will. The point of the drugs to make you hooked so you will want them again and again. If you could stop at will, then the drug lords would never make any money.
The typical response is to:
- Recognize you have a problem.
- Substitute that problem with a new one.
- Start the new habit gradually.
- Reduce the number of triggers that will cause you to revert back.
- Get help from others.
- Make the new habit something fun that you know you can succeed at.
- Visualize that you have succeeded.
The problem is that this relies mostly upon ourselves and cuts God completely out of the equation. However, that is not how God planned it. He wants us to rely upon Him for help.
Psalm 16:1 New International Version (NIV)
1Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
Are you struggling with old habits? Then as the Lord for help through prayer.