Overcoming Bad Habits and Addictions — Part 19
Romans 6-8 are key chapters for anyone who wants to overcome bad habits and addictions. These chapters not only reinforce the truth of our freedom from sin, but they give us specific guidance for overcoming temptations and the deceitfulness of sin.
Romans chapter 6 especially should be committed to memory and quoted often to help us walk in the Spirit so that we do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. (See Galatians 5:16.)
Following the steps given in Romans 6, the first thing you must know and believe is that your old self that was bound by habits and addictions was put to death when Jesus died. Your old self died with Him. You bury that old self when you are baptized. It goes under the water with you, but it never comes back up. You leave your old self in the baptismal pool. When you rise up out of the waters of baptism, your old self does not come with you. It cannot. It is forever buried.
When you step out of the baptismal pool, you step out into a completely new life that is free from your old self and all of the habits, addictions, and cravings that drove it.
Step 1: Know the truth.
“Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;”—Romans 6:6 (NASB)
The first sections of Romans chapters 6, 7, and 8 are focused on this step—knowing the truth.
Romans 6:
1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? **2 **Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? **3 **Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? **4 **For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.
**5 **Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. **6 **We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. **7 **For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. **8 **And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. **9 **We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. **10 **When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. (NLT)
Romans 7:
1 Now, dear brothers and sisters—you who are familiar with the law—don’t you know that the law applies only while a person is living? **2 **For example, when a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her. **3 **So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries.
**4 **So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. **5 **When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. **6 **But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit. (NLT)
Romans 8:
**2 **For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. **3 **For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, **4 **that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (NKJV)
Step 2: Reckon yourself to be dead to sin, but alive to God.
“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”—Romans 6:11 (KJV)
To “reckon” means to “make note,” “mark it down,” “record it as done,” “consider it finished.” We must settle it in our thinking that we are completely dead to our old habits, addictions, and cravings. We are free from all of that.
But you don’t stop there. You cannot live in a void. Now that your old self is dead, you turn your focus to your new life in God.
So settle it in your mind that your old self is dead with all of its habits, addictions, and cravings, and turn your focus to all of the exciting new possibilities of your new life of freedom in Christ!
Different Bible versions help us to grasp the meaning of this truth.
“In the same way, you must think of yourselves as dead to the power of sin. But Christ Jesus has given life to you, and you live for God.”—Romans 6:11 (CEV)
“In the same way, you should see yourselves as being dead to the power of sin and alive with God through Christ Jesus.”—Romans 6:11 (ICB)
“In the same way, you too must continuously consider yourselves dead as far as sin is concerned, but living for God through the Messiah Jesus.”—Romans 6:11 (ISV)
When we believe God’s promises and settle these things in our hearts, reckoning them once and for all to be true, we enter into the rest that we are seeking.
**“So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. **So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.”—Hebrews 4:9-11 (NLT)
Step 3: Give yourself to God. Give every part of yourself to God to do what is right.
**“**Don’t give any part of yourself to serve sin. Don’t let any part of yourself be used to do evil. Instead, give yourselves to God. You have been brought from death to life. So give every part of yourself to God to do what is right.”—Romans 6:13 (NIRV)
Once you turn your focus onto your new life in God, take action on that decision by presenting your whole self—body, mind, will, emotions—to be used in service to God.
A few chapters later, the Apostle Paul begs us to dedicate our bodies to God in a decisive act.
“I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.”—Romans 12:1 (AMPC)
It is important to dedicate your body and your life to God intentionally and to declare this out loud. This declaration marks a separation from your old life and any agreements that you had with wrong influences or dark spiritual forces, and aligns you with God’s will and purposes for your new life in Christ.
You might say something like this, “At this moment, I declare that my body and my life no longer serve the will of bad habits, addictions, or any wrong influences. I renounce those things. I break any agreements that I had with them. They have no place in my life now. From this moment on, Lord Jesus, I dedicate my body and my life to you completely for your service.”
There are tremendous benefits that come with dedicating yourself to God. As Bill Gothard notes, whatever God owns, He cares for and protects. (Gothard, p.61)
To give yourself to God means to present yourself for His service. In the past, you may have presented yourself to be used in the service of bad habits and addictions. Now that you are free from those, don’t sit around idle. You are free now to present yourselves in the honorable service of God Almighty to live a life full of meaning and purpose!
Romans 6:
**12 **Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. **13 **Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. **14 **For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. (NIV)
**15 **Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! **16 **Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. **17 **Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. **18 **Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. (NLT)
Step 4: In the same ways that you yielded your body parts as servants to bad habits in the past, now yield your body parts as servants to righteous acts.
“I am speaking in simple terms because of the frailty of your human nature. Just as you once offered the parts of your body as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater disobedience, so now, in the same way, you must offer the parts of your body as slaves to righteousness that leads to sanctification.”—Romans 6:19 (ISV)
Think of how you used to surrender yourself to engage in bad habits in the past. First, there would be a prompting. Something would get your attention and spark your interest. There would be a temptation. Then you would be faced with a decision. You had a moment of choice. Once you made the decision to engage in the bad habit, the battle was over, and you had lost.
Now you are free from sin. Now you shift your focus to be alert to promptings from God’s Spirit. A thought will suddenly come into your mind, or you will be inspired by something you see, hear, or experience. Then you will make a decision to follow that prompting to serve righteousness. It may be as simple as a prompting to meditate for a moment on a Bible verse, or to smile and greet a person who is walking past you, or to call a friend to see how he or she is doing. Once you make the decision to follow that prompting, the battle is over. But this time, you have won!
As you make more and more decisions to follow these promptings from God’s Spirit, you build up momentum in a positive direction. Then you pave the road for a new life for yourself, and this time, it is a life that is going in a good direction, filled with meaning and purpose and deep satisfaction of fulfillment, rather than a life that is wasted and filled with regret.
Romans 6:
**19 **I am speaking in familiar human terms because of your natural limitations. For as you yielded your bodily members [and faculties] as servants to impurity and ever increasing lawlessness, so now yield your bodily members [and faculties] once for all as servants to righteousness (right being and doing) [which leads] to sanctification. (AMPC)
**20 **When you were slaves of sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. **21 **What consequences did you get from doing things that you are now ashamed of? The outcome of those things is death. **22 **But now that you have been set free from sin and become slaves to God, you have the consequence of a holy life, and the outcome is eternal life. **23 **The wages that sin pays are death, but God’s gift is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (CEB)
Romans 8:
**5 **For those who are living according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh [which gratify the body], but those who are living according to the Spirit, [set their minds on] the things of the Spirit [His will and purpose]. **6 **Now the mind of the flesh is death [both now and forever—because it pursues sin]; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace [the spiritual well-being that comes from walking with God—both now and forever]; **7 **the mind of the flesh [with its sinful pursuits] is actively hostile to God. It does not submit itself to God’s law, since it cannot, **8 **and those who are in the flesh [living a life that caters to sinful appetites and impulses] cannot please God.
**9 **However, you are not [living] in the flesh [controlled by the sinful nature] but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God lives in you [directing and guiding you]. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him [and is not a child of God]. **10 **If Christ lives in you, though your [natural] body is dead because of sin, your spirit is alive because of righteousness [which He provides]. **11 **And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you. (AMP)
Step 5: Put to death all of the remnants of your old life and cause them to be removed from your new life. Put them off like old garments. Put on your new life in God, like a new set of clothes.
Romans 8:
**12 **Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. **13 **For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. **14 **For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. (NKJV)
Putting to death all of the remnants of your old lifestyle is necessary so that you can walk free into your new life. This may involve tossing out anything that you associate with your old habits and addictions, just like throwing away old clothes that you no longer have any use for.
For some of us, this may involve drastic lifestyle changes. You may need to do a thorough home cleaning to remove everything that was connected to old habits and addictions. You may need to clean out files on your computer or your phone. You may need to rearrange your daily schedule. You may also need to say goodbye to some companions who partnered with you in old habits and addictions.
But don’t stop there! You are removing the old to make room for the new! Your possessions, your schedule, your computer files, and your companions should now reflect and support your new life of freedom in Christ!
**Colossians 3: **
1 Therefore if you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, sharing in His resurrection from the dead], keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. **2 **Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value]. **3 **For you died [to this world], and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God. **4 **When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. (AMP)
**5 **So put to death the parts of your life that belong to the earth, such as sexual immorality, moral corruption, lust, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). **6 **The wrath of God is coming upon disobedient people because of these things. **7 **You used to live this way, when you were alive to these things. (CEB)
**8 **But now rid yourselves [completely] of all these things: anger, rage, malice, slander, and obscene (abusive, filthy, vulgar) language from your mouth.
**9 **Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old self with its evil practices, **10 **and have put on the new [spiritual] self who is being continually renewed in true knowledge in the image of Him who created the new self— **11 **a renewal in which there is no [distinction between] Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, [nor between nations whether] barbarian or Scythian, [nor in status whether] slave or free, but Christ is all, and in all [so believers are equal in Christ, without distinction]. (AMP)
**12 **Clothe yourselves therefore, as God’s own chosen ones (His own picked representatives), [who are] purified and holy and well-beloved [by God Himself, by putting on behavior marked by] tenderhearted pity and mercy, kind feeling, a lowly opinion of yourselves, gentle ways, [and] patience [which is tireless and long-suffering, and has the power to endure whatever comes, with good temper].
**13 **Be gentle and forbearing with one another and, if one has a difference (a grievance or complaint) against another, readily pardoning each other; even as the Lord has [freely] forgiven you, so must you also [forgive]. (AMPC)
**14 **Beyond all these things put on and wrap yourselves in [unselfish] love, which is the perfect bond of unity [for everything is bound together in agreement when each one seeks the best for others].
**15 **Let the peace of Christ [the inner calm of one who walks daily with Him] be the controlling factor in your hearts [deciding and settling questions that arise]. To this peace indeed you were called as members in one body [of believers]. And be thankful [to God always].
**16 **Let the [spoken] word of Christ have its home within you [dwelling in your heart and mind—permeating every aspect of your being] as you teach [spiritual things] and admonish and train one another with all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
**17 **Whatever you do [no matter what it is] in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus [and in dependence on Him], giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (AMP)
Reference:
Gothard, Bill. (2011). How to Conquer Habits and Addictions. Institute in Basic Life Principles, Inc.
