I love to read old books, and I’ve been reading a collection of readings from some time-tested authors. One particular article recently caught my attention. You would have thought it was written yesterday, for it speaks so clearly to us today.

It is entitled “How to Change One’s Habits,” and the sentence which jumped off the page to me was: “Could the young but realize how soon they will become mere walking bundles of habits, they would give more heed to their conduct while in the plastic state.” Walking bundles of habits—what a clear picture that gives us of ourselves, does it not? Obviously, those can be good habits or bad habits, or some mixture of both, but I acknowledge that I am to a large degree a collection of the habits I’ve established in my life.

I want to talk about our “bundle of habits” and how we can add good ones and get rid of harmful ones.

You know, when you first start a habit that is harmful, you don’t intend for it to become a habit. Lately we see how so many have become addicted to pornography, especially on the internet. This is a devastatingly bad and evil habit, but my guess is that the person who first goes to one of those pornographic internet sites tells himself or herself they are doing it simply out of curiosity—just want to see what it’s like. And then one time leads to another and another and before they know it, they’re hooked.

I have heard it said, “Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.” If we dealt with our harmful habits in the beginning stages, we could pretty easily break them. This author calls it the “plastic state”—that period of time when breaking a habit wouldn’t be too hard to do. But the longer you allow it to continue, the more likely it will become part of your bundle of habits and then it’s very difficult to overcome.

Speaking of ancient authors, the Apostle Paul addressed this issue in his letter to the Romans. He said, Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?. . . Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness (Romans 6:16, 19).

In other words, since we are all walking bundles of habit, we need to make certain that those habits lead to holiness and righteousness. Unfortunately, many times we’re controlled by bad habits. If you truly want to break a bad habit—and you have to really want to do it—begin by specifically praying about that habit.

Whether it’s what we may classify as an innocent bad habit or one that is recognized as harmful, if you are addicted to it and it’s not good for you, ask God to give you strength to overcome it. Then in order to break that habit, you need to replace it with a good habit. Habit is overcome by habit. As Paul wrote to the Romans, you and I choose whether we will be a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness—whether we will incorporate habits that are wrong or replace them with good habits.

The first part is the hardest part—getting started. You have to stop talking about it and start doing it. As Jesus said, Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them (John 13:17). The blessing is in the doing. So, how do you get started when you want to break a bad habit? After praying about it, you need to determine what new habit you will use to overcome the bad habit. Remember, habit is overcome by habit.

For example, if you watch too much television or see too many movies that are not good for you, what new thing will you do to replace the time you used to spend watching the wrong things? You could get some Christian movies to replace them; you could find a good book to read instead of watching the television. It will be most helpful if you determine in advance what new good hab...