CCOG Newsletter

What is the most important part of your body? Which part would you be willing to do without? These are silly questions, I realize. The thing is, Paul compares the Church to a body in 1 Corinthians. He reminds the Corinthian church, along with us, that each part of the body of Christ matters. The heart, the brain, the lungs, the liver are all hidden. They are "background" body parts. Does that mean that they matter less because they are unseen? Absolutely not! We couldn't live without them!

The same is true of people who may feel that their role in church is in the background. No one may ever see what you do for Christ - the times you spray the weeds, all the dishes you wash, every person you invite to church, each time you send a card of encouragement - but every little thing you do matters to the body and the kingdom. We are told in Hebrews 6:10, "For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do." Don't allow fear or discouragement or feeling insignificant to keep you from using your talents. God has placed something special in you. And He sees each time you use those gifts!

We all want good daily habits. But instead we do things like sleep in, get to work late, get home late, yell at the kids, eat or drink “just one more,” and check our email in bed.

So, how do we start breaking bad habits and start making good habits? Isn’t there just a simple three-step plan that will set me free? Not really. But there is hope, and God’s Word is full of it.

Life.Church pastor, Craig Groeschel, says one of the biggest reasons people fail to keep good habits and break bad ones is because our distorted identity sabotages our success. This brings up the first letter in the HABITS acronym we’ll use as we discover a better way to make and break habits: healthy identity.

Often when we’re ready to start something new or get rid of a bad habit, we make a plan based on what we’ll do. Instead we need to start with goals based on who our God is and who we want to be. Saying, “I’m going to run a marathon,” is based on what you want to do. Saying, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and by God’s strength I want to become a runner,” is based on who God is and who you desire to become. This is an identity-based goal. We need to put who before do.

Identity goals are one aspect of discovering a healthy identity. The next bit of freedom comes with digging into past hurts, lies you’ve believed, unforgiveness, mistakes, and life situations that may have brought you to believe in a version of yourself that may not be who God made you to be. As you discover the lies, you’ll want to replace them with God’s truth from His Word. A healthy identity based on what God says about you is the foundation for breaking bad habits and making good ones.

For example, too many of us have believed a lie like, “I’ll always be this way.” That’s an identity-based fear that needs an identity-based truth like, “The Spirit of God didn’t give me fear. He gave me power, love, and self-control!” What are some of your identity-based lies that you can replace with God’s truth?

Pray: God, what are the habits I need to break? What are some deeper parts of my identity that may be leading to these habits? Holy Spirit, I need Your power to make these changes. Amen!