Craig Groeschel shared powerful tips to break the cycle of bad habits that are breaking your life. These tips are from his book, The Power to Change.
The Power to Change
Pastor Craig Groeschel’s sermon about breaking a bad habit was uploaded on Life.Church’s YouTube channel: “In Pastor Craig’s new book, The Power to Change, you’ll learn highly practical, biblical, and doable strategies so you can get out of the cycle of trying and transform your life.”
The pastor shared powerful tips on how to break the cycle of bad habits. When asked why a good habit is difficult to build and why a bad one seems easy, he answered, “The reason is because the pain is now and the payoff is later. If you’re gonna have a good habit, it’s difficult now. Why is it that bad habits are difficult to break? And the answer is the reverse. Because with bad habits, the payoff is now and the pain comes later.”
With this, he shared the tips that have been proven effective.
1. Break the Cycle of Bad Habits
“Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way” (Proverbs 4:14-15, NIV).
We are always cued to something. The sound of a notification. The smell of freshly baked cookies. The sight of a moist chocolate. All these give a cue that is difficult to reject.
“Don’t even get close to that which would be harmful to your relationship with God, to your spiritual power,” the pastor said.
He also shared five common cues that many often fall into.
2. Five Common Cues
1. Places – “When you go to a certain place, you’re cued and you’re triggered to act in a certain way. If you’re wanting to eat right, you probably don’t overeat at the gym, right?”
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2. Times – “There’s also certain times of the day you’re more vulnerable to certain activities. For example, if you have a battle of looking at pornography, my guess is most of you don’t look at pornography in the morning when you’re doing your YouVersion Bible app. It’s probably late at night when you’re tired, when you’re mad about something, when you’re worn down and when you need something to distract you. ”
3. Moods – “There’s a certain mood when you’re more vulnerable. HALT is the thing that people talk about in the mood. H-A-L-T, which stands for this: hungry, angry, lonely, and tired. This is when you’re most vulnerable.”
4. Moments – “There’s also certain moments where you might do the wrong thing. Like after a fight with your husband. Or after your softball game, you go out with your buddies, and you all get drunk together.”
5. People – “Finally, there’s certain people that when you’re around them, you end up doing things that you probably wish you wouldn’t do. One of the strongest tempting factors is the people that were around. Studies are conclusive that the closer you are to someone, the more likely you are to have the same habits as a person that you’re around.”
3. Interrupt the Action
You may have something you’re trying to stop, like hitting snooze multiple times in the morning. So, to interrupt the action, use an alarm clock and place your phone outside your room.
“You’re simply interrupting the flow,” pastor Craig said. “For those of you that battle with pornography on your phone, you can limit adult content. You can eliminate your ability to download any app, certain apps that might make you vulnerable. You can get rid of social media. If you can’t have one of these phones without looking at something inappropriate, get rid of your smart one and buy a dumb one. We’re gonna put that which tempts us as far away from us as humanly possible.”
4. Ask For Help
Pastor Craig ended his sermon with encouragement: “Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of wisdom.”
“For the most part, your life today is a reflection of whatever habits you had before. And for the most part, the habits you have today will shape who you become tomorrow. … Nobody plans to ruin their life and very few people do it all at once. How do they do it? One wrong decision, one wrong step, one bad habit at a time. … But God’s grace is so good. His presence is so powerful. What I want you to understand is you are not what you did. You’re not what you’re doing now. But you’ll become more of that if you don’t turn away from it,” he said.
Watch the full video:
Reference: Life.Church
Header image: Craig Groeschel [Life.Church]. YouTube, 26 February 2023, https://youtu.be/cn7yvFAyVow
