Dealing with Habits of the Past

What kind of habits of the past we have to deal with? Here's two.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

⁵ circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. ⁷ But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

Philippians 3:5-8

As we approach the end of 2024, many of us will begin to reflect, consciously or unconsciously, on what has happened for the past year and more. What we will realize when we do that is this: we all have different kinds of pasts.

Some of us have the kind of past that we would rather NOT forget. This year may be filled with milestones or bucket lists checked - places traveled, board exams passed, marriages, childbirth, etc. For some of us, we will cherish God’s blessing towards us as we look back on 2024.

Some of us have the kind of past that we would rather forget. This year may have been a bad year for you marked by failures and disappointments - in your relationship, career, and family. As you enter 2025, you would rather forget these things, hoping that if you do, you will have a better year than the one you have now.

Often we try to forget our failures and cherish our successes. When writing our reflections, we focus on the positive and minimize the negative. Yet, very often, its the blessings that we easily ‘forget’, and it is the failures that we ‘remember’ to carry forward to the new year.

What do I mean?

By ‘forget’ and ‘remember’ I’m not talking about the memory. I don’t mean that a year from now you will forget that you passed your exam or that you got married or had your first child.

I don’t mean the memory, but rather the habits.

We remember habits of past failures more than habits of past blessings.

Here’s a good example of a habit of past failure. Let’s say a girl got dumped by a boy because the girl doesn’t respect him and gossips a lot. Chances are a year from now, the girl and the boy would probably have moved on to other relationships. However the habits that lead to the failure of the first relationship - the nagging and the gossiping - often gets carried to the next one.

However, here’s a good example of a habit of past blessings. Let’s say the same girl got dumped again by another boy for the same nagging and gossiping. Instead of being a nagger and a gossip, the girl cries to God and asks for help. She then seeks counsel of what to do. When she receives godly counsel, she applies them - namely repenting of her old habit of nagging and gossiping. She has developed a new habit, one that leads her to blessing.

This however, is quite rare. Many will continue in their old habits rather than grow new ones. So what do we do?

First, ask Jesus to give you a habit to see the right blessings.

This asks the question: do I have the right goals?

The passage above tells us what Paul did with his past habits. Previously his past habits centered on pride and zeal for the wrong things. He was a consistently, year-after-year, proud Benjaminite, a zealous, regular, and intense persecutor of Christians. He had habits to see things that are not a blessing - like being a stickler for the Law and a persecutor of Christians - as blessings.

Sometimes our past failures are a result of pursuing things that don’t really bless us. I mean, how can a high score in Mobile Legends draw you closer to God? Baking bread can, as your doing so in order to love your neighbor well. Mobile Legends though, blesses you, not your neighbor (and yes, your friend from Honolulu doesn’t count as your neighbor).

So ask Jesus, what kind of wrong things have I devoted myself to?

If this year, you have been consistent in being zealous for things that don’t matter, ask Jesus to open your eyes to the things around you that He will use to bless you and others.

Second, ask Jesus to give you a habit of pursuing the right blessings.

If the first is about goals, this is about attitude towards the goals.

When Paul came to know Jesus, all of these changed. Not the zeal nor pride. They did not change. Their object though, did. Instead of being zealous and proud about his lineage and his performance, he became zealous and proud for his King and Lord, Jesus Christ.

The same cannot be said about many of us. When it comes to Jesus Christ, many of us have a nonchalant attitude on Jesus matters. We can have the kind of attitude of an office worker in a night shift with no urgent tasks - ticking away checklists while dreaming of the queen sized bed and the comfy pillows back home.

When it comes to Jesus, it’s easy for us to be very mediocre, dispassionate - doing all these things just because we have to.

Many older Christians are better at cryptocurrency than communion with God. Many Christians memorize the 10 rules for startup businesses more than the 10 commandments of God. Why? We have a habit of NOT being pursuant of the right blessings. We pursue everything - from Starbucks stickers, ML highscores, Sales quotas - all except knowing Jesus.

The result? A lack of spiritual maturity over a long period of time. We wonder why we have been a Christian for so many years, but lack maturity and steadfastness.

So, go ahead and ask Jesus, what kind of habits do I have towards you that fails me spiritually?

As we end this year, ask Jesus to deliver you from your past habits. The kind of habits that gives you wrong goals. The kind of habits that fails you to experience spiritual maturity in Christ.