Through the Apostle Paul, God teaches us in Hebrew 12:1(NLT), “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” This is such a beautiful lesson that our Heavenly Father has given us to learn. He is teaching us about His blessings and what we must do in order to make room for them. Every blessing will require increased responsibility. Jesus Christ tells us this in Luke 12:48. So, when we pray to our Heavenly Father for more, we also must be prepared to grow in Christ in the ways He requires.
Sometimes, we have thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are part of our old nature. The old nature is the one we had before we accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. We may have told little white lies, harbored jealousy when it comes to certain people, or thought that God would give us a pass on sins like fornication and getting drunk. Many of us thought this stuff was fun, and we still do, but that’s because we don’t recognize how much it is causing us to lose out on the blessings we desire most.
When the Creator of the universe tells us that sin weighs us down, we have no other choice but to believe that sinful behavior will crash our momentum in life. It trips us up so that when we want to excel, we don’t. Instead, we go backward instead of forward, and this isn’t what God wants for us.
Some of the most painful things that we have experienced in life are because we didn’t obey God, and the devil used our disobedience to throw darts when we least expected it. Our tendency is to look back and blame the person, but in reality, we may have had darkness in our hearts and minds, and the devil used it against us. God delivers us from painful experiences and heartaches. He heals our hearts, and our responsibility is to make sure we don’t pick up those old habit patterns again. We should learn the lesson of our pain and release those things that the Father has told us to let go.
2Corinthians 5:17(NLT) says, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” God has made us new through the Lord Jesus Christ. The old is dead and gone, and we should never try to resurrect it. Fear, insecurity, doubt, worry, obsession, jealousy, and anxiety are all the go-to things for those that don’t trust God and don’t know Him through Jesus Christ. This isn’t who we are any more. We are new people, and we don’t have to keep making the same mistakes repeatedly.
Don’t let a lack of faith keep you from living the life God wants you to have. Pray and give all your burdens to Him. Don’t bring old stuff into your new season. Jesus Christ teaches us in Matthew 9:17(NLT), “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved.” Strip off the ungodliness that slows you down and keeps you moving at a snail’s pace. Strip off your old nature and trust God as you put on the newness of Christ and all the blessings that come with it.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Don’t Pick Up Old Habits”, written by KLizzie, edited by Reverend Fran Mack, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2021. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.