Last week I started a series on how to deal with the negative addiction in your life. You can check out the original post, 4 Clear Steps in Working Through Your Addiction by clicking here, and the follow-up post; How Jesus Can Help Me Fight Addition by clicking here.
In today’s post I will share how we can change the way we think and the three habits we need to start doing that will help re-program our mind. This reprogramming will be vital if we what to have victory over addiction.
THE PROBLEM
Romans 1:28-29 (NLT) – Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.
Ephesians 4:23-24 (NLT) – Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
Romans 12:2 (NLT) – Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
As a result of our sinful habits and addictions, God has changed the wiring in our brains, as Romans 1 says, He has abandoned us to our foolish thinking. There has been much science devoted to brain activity and addiction in recent years and it has only confirmed what the Bible has taught for over 2000 years; that is, when we give ourselves over to addictive sins our brains become re-wired to constantly think about the habit. Our brains tell the rest of our body to pursue the sinful/addictive/destructive activity.
I recall years ago when I struggled with my own addiction to porn; I would start thinking about looking at porn and finding ways later in the day to do so. I would battle with my thoughts to want to look at it and not follow through with it. The battle in my mind would go on for hours; until I finally followed through with my initial thought. What’s more, I would feel really bad about acting out and promise to never do it again; yet, the next day I would find myself having the same cycle of thoughts.
Consider what Paul said in Romans about his battle with sin:
Romans 7:21-24 (NLT) – “I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22I love God’s law with all my heart. 23But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?
ADDICTIVE SIN IS A BIG MESS!
Addictive sin changes how we think and when our thoughts are changed so to our actions change, and emotions. To start doing the right thing we need to Draw Close to Jesus and we need to Renew the Mind.
HABIT 1 – BIBLE MEMORY / MEDITATION
Our first habit starts with God’s word, the Bible. I believe, and science is confirming it, that to change the neuron connections in our brain we need to re-wire those neurons. Learning something new and memorizing/meditating on it is a great first step.
I have used several passages to help me re-wire my neurons. One favorite passage is the Biblical book of Ephesians. Start by memorizing a chapter of this book. As you memorize the chapter begin to meditate on the truth of the book. Consider how much God loves you, see it in the phrases used in Ephesians chapter 1. As you work diligently on memorizing the large sections of Bible, God will be working diligently at rewiring your neurons.
HABIT 2 – DAILY DECLARATIONS
Daily Declarations are statements of truth I tell myself every day. I have a list of 20 statements that I read, out loud, every morning. I will share the statements below, but not all of them, some are personal to me. Here’s the deal, when I say these statements, I am using 3 of my five senses (Sight, I’m reading the statement; Feel, I’m holding the paper the statements are on; and Hear, I say the statements aloud). These statements are powerful and truthful. They help to rewire my neurons and they motivate me to be the best I can be. Here are some of my statements (use them and come up with your own)…
- I am a child of God, bought by the blood of Jesus Christ; therefore, Jesus will be first in my life. I exist to serve and glorify Him.
- I love Jen and I will serve her un-selfishly.
- I will do what I can to see that my children love God and serve Him whole-heartedly.
- I will work daily at developing the character of my children.
- I am disciplined.
- I am faithful.
- I will be faithful with money today
- I will believe the best in other people.
- Christ in me is stronger than the wrong desires in me.
- I am growing closer to Jesus every day.
- Because of Jesus, my family is closer, my body is strong, my faith is deeper and my leadership is sharper.
- My preaching, teaching, and coaching are powerful because the Holy Spirit is alive and powerful in me, and I am gifted by God to communicate His truth.
- I am created, innovative, and blessed beyond measure.
- I am a pastor, helping people get un-stuck in life.
- I will be intentional about developing people today!
- I am not a victim of circumstances; I am gifted to create, lead, and change circumstances from what they are to what they could be.
- The world around me will be better tomorrow because I served Jesus today!
HABIT 3 – DAILY PRAYER
The final habit in renewing our brain is a daily time of prayer. Along with your Bible meditations and your Daily Declarations begin to have a specific prayer time each day. By specific prayers I mean that you are being very specific in what you are praying for and your prayers should be personal. Keep the list with your Daily declarations. Collect prayer requests from friends and family members and pray over the list at least 1x a day. You might need to add this to your phone’s calendar function to get into the habit of praying, meditating, and saying your daily declarations.
Steps to Take:
- Start memorizing large sections of the Bible, I would recommend Ephesians chapter 1.
- Create and Say (Daily) a list of truthful statements.
- Create a prayer list of specific prayer requests and pray daily.
Working on these steps daily will help to renew your mind…
Romans 12:2 (NLT) – Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
