Christian Life Coaching What About My Habits?

We start habits to help us establish a familiar world, and then rely on them to help us feel in control. We would probably label these habits as good habits. Everyone of us have routines that are part of who we are and what we do in a day.

Most of our behavior is exhibited by our habits. But, what is a habit? Organically, habits are established through continual, electrical impulse signals to our head, which the sensory nerves transmit from our hearing, touch, vision taste and smell to the information center of our brain over our lifetime. Cognitively, habits are a repeating, often unconscious sequence of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition, an accepted disposition of the mind or character.

It is important to admit that some of those habits are not good for us. We all have habits or routines that are part of our make up and what we do each day - but there is a point when we need to admit that some of those habits are detrimental for us. All of us have some habits in their lives that steals their day-to-day lifestyle of a little (or a lot) of joy.

You may recognize that to successfully manage habit changes, dissolving bad habits require replacing them with new profitable ones. General bad habits often consist of: over scheduling, over spending, over eating, and even over analyzing. We often think that we can't change an area because it is a "habit," and methodically habits are hard to break.

Where do these habits come from? We train ourselves with bad habits as written in 2 Peter 2:14, we are insatiable for sin [we] train our hearts in greed.

Bad habits are genetic coming from parents and grandparents. 1 Peter 1:18, shows that the useless behavior patterns that were passed down from your ancestors. But, when Christ heals you from them He makes it possible to live the remainder of your life no longer following human desires, but following the will of God.

We get them from association. Paul warns us in 1 Corinthians 15:33, Dont be misled, bad friends corrupt good habits. Further, he notes, There are some who, out of habit formed in idolatry, still eat food as if it were offered to idols, and because their conscience is weak, they are defiled. So it is apparent that even after good habits are started being around those who are of contradictory behavior can wreck them.

What do we need to do about our behaviors?

5 steps to change an unhealthy habit into a healthy one

The first step in altering a sinful pattern is to stop trying to break it and create a plan to replace it. A habit implies that a learning has resulted in behavior that occurs so automatically that the individual does not have to plan this action or behavior. Often you do not realize what you are doing until after it is done. You must set in place a method to realize this counterproductive pattern or action.

Two, the contrary behavior is like a hole in your personality. It needs to be filled with something that is wholesome and healthy. The Holy Spirit by His Word trains in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16) so that new behaviors become habits in place of old ones. Determine what you will do in place of the habit you intend to change.

Three, the time when you are most likely to employ in sinful patterns are when you are stressed, hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. You can remember this with the acronym Shalt as in shalt not! Keep watch on these moments as this is when your conscience be most susceptible.

Four, God created us to have relationships. Having another person you can be real and honest with is terribly important in replacing bad habits. Talk with that person and ask them to keep you answerable regarding your intended result. Have them ask you about your progress in making your change on a weekly basis.

Lastly, practice! Hebrews 5:14, reveals to us that mature Christians are those whose faculties have been trained by practice to do distinguish good from evil. Maintain a practice that exercises the good replacement. Remember -- It took time to develop your bad habit, so it will take time to replace it. Is there some habit or behavior that you keep repeating and always grumble about it?

My guess is you are ready to change your bad habits with better ones.

More Topics:
Christian Counseling
Christian Counseling - What is the difference between biblical counsel and secular counsel? ... counseling seeks to carefully discover those areas in which a ...

Home: Christian Counseling Resources
Jam-packed with Christian counseling resources for professional counselors and hurting people. ... you have your own Christian Counseling website, I would love ...

Spirit-led Christian Counseling: Degrees Online, Certification, Courses ...
... correspondence courses, Christian counseling certification, training for Christian counseling, ... when working toward your Christian Counseling Degree online. ...

Christian counseling - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
... differences among secular and Christian Counseling, both can utilize similar models of therapy. ... Christian counseling resources and self help techniques ...

CHRISTIAN COUNSELING ~ HELPING YOU HELP OTHERS IN CRISIS
CHRISTIAN COUNSELING at its finest. Courses the scan the spectrum of human problems. ... N. C. C. A. The largest Christian Counseling association in the world! ...