How to change (continued)

Shape your environment so it will help shape you. (continued)

• I Corinthians 15:33
• Ephesians 4:17; 5:1-2
• I Peter 4:1-5

Create good habits and stop bad ones.

• Serving God is a way of life – not a one-time action.

  • Ephesians 2:2, 10; 4:1, 17; 5:2, 8, 15 – Notice the term walk. This is a figure for way of life.

  • Romans 6:4, 13-16 – After baptism, a Christian is to walk in newness of life. We are slaves for obedience. We’re not a slave for a day. We are to submit to God from now on.

  • Colossians 1:10; 2:6; 3:7; 4:5 – Walking

• Remember to shape your environment to make good habits easier and bad habits harder.

  • Daniel 6:10 – Daniel had a well-engrained prayer habit. He had a place just for praying.

  • Deuteronomy 17:18-19 – Israel’s kings were to read God’s law everyday.

• We tend to do what’s easy and convenient. We must reduce the friction for good habits and make the bad habits harder and inconvenient.

Examples:

Let’s say you want to do a better job of loving your spouse (Ephesians 5:22-33). List some ideas that would help in that endeavor:

• Think of yourself as a new person.

  • “I am the kind of person that thinks of her first.”

• Shape your environment so it will help shape you.

  • Have a career that allows time for family.

  • Shrug of bad advice about marriage from those who do not fear God.

  • Watch how strong couples interact and love each other.