Changing Unwanted Behavior

Changing Unwanted Behavior

Introduction:
Albert Einstein said; Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
He was talking about science; but doesn’t this also hold true about human behavior?
Ill:         University of Scranton, Journal of Clinical Psychology

Rank	Top 10 New Years resolutions for 2012
1	Lose Weight
2	Getting Organized
3	Spend Less, Save More
4	Enjoy Life to the Fullest
5	Staying Fit and Healthy
6	Learn Something Exciting
7	Quit Smoking
8	Help Others in Their Dreams
9	Fall in Love
10	Spend More Time with Family

 

News Years Resolution Statistics	Data
Percent of Americans who usually make New Year’s Resolutions	45%
Percent of Americans who infrequently make New Year’s Resolutions	17%
Percent of Americans who absolutlely never make New Year’s Resolutions	38%
Percent of people who are successful in achieving their resolution	8%
Percent who have infrequent success	49%
Percent who never succeed and fail on their resolution each year	24%
People who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t explicitly make resolutions
Type of Resolutions (Percent above 100% because of multiple resolutions)	Data
Self Improvement or education related resolutions	47%
Weight related resolutions	38%
Money related resolutions	34%
Relationship related resolutions	31%
Age Success Rates	Data
Percent of people in their twenties who achieve their resolution each year	39%
Percent of people over 50 who achieve their resolution each year	14%
Length of Resolutions	Data
Resolution maintained through first week	75%
Past two weeks	71%
Past one month	64%
Past six months	46%

 

Tags:

The Vicious Cycle:
·        We are creatures of habit. 
·        We quickly establish behavioral patterns in our lives.  Some are healthy and some are not.
·        The habits that are healthy seem easy to break, but the unhealthy habits are hard to break. 
Transition:  Let us examine the progression of sin and how real change occurs in human behavior.

James 1:13-16 (KJV) ¹³ Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: ¹⁴ But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. ¹⁵ Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. ¹⁶ Do not err, my beloved brethren.

There is a clear progression of sin here in James.  1. Temptation   2. Sin    3. Death

I.  Temptation (13-14)

               A.  When he is tempted

Notice it doesn’t say if!  It is when.  Temptation is common to all man.

1 Corinthians 10:13 (KJV) ¹³ There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

               B.  Neither tempteth he any man

·        God does not tempt us.
·        God does allow us to be tempted.
·        God does allow trials into our lives.

Ex:  Job

God allowed Satan access to Job and his family and fortune.  Job was tried and tempted, and God allowed both.
Interestingly, the word tempted has a meaning of being examined, or an examination.

               C.  Temptation is the Thought of Sin.

Temptation is someone, something, some situation that generates a thought about doing something sinful.

                              1.            Your Thoughts Matter:

What you think is important.  It is a primary way Satan influences human behavior.
When Satan attacked Eve in the Garden, he attacked her thinking first.

Genesis 3:1-5 (KJV) ¹ Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? ² And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: ³ But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. ⁴ And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: ⁵ For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Ex:  Society’s Thinking
·        Addiction is a disease.
·        Homosexuality is genetic.
·        Adultery is OK if between consenting adults.
·        Abortion is a choice.

                              2.            Your Meditation Matters:

Proverbs 23:7 (KJV) ⁷ For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

Ex:  The Stuck Meditation
What happened to them, what they did, what someone did to them, what did not happen that they wanted to happen, the inequities, the injustices, the hurts, the pain, the bitterness…

               D.  Thoughts produce Desire.

James 1:14 (KJV) ¹⁴ But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

Lust =     It means sinful desires, fleshly desire, evil desire.  It is the yearning, pulling, desiring, longing, craving, hungering, wanting, grabbing, and thirsting of the flesh.

1 Peter 2:11 (KJV) ¹¹ Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

Enticed:     To entice, lure, trap, catch, seduce. It means to lure and bait just as a person lures                                              and baits a fish.

II.        Sin (15)

James 1:15 (KJV) ¹⁵ Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

The next progression here in James is Sin.  Temptation ® Sin.
·        Temptation is the thought of sin:               It occurs in your mind. 
·        Lust is the desire of sin:                                 It occurs in your heart.
·        Lust conceived is the action of sin:             It occurs in your will.

Thoughts ®Desires®Actions.

Thoughts produce desires which lead to actions.
Before you ever did it, you wanted to do it, and before you ever wanted to do it, you thought about doing it.

               1.  Man is a Trichotomy

§  Spirit, a Soul, and a Body
§  The Spirit is made alive in someone when they trust Christ as Savior.

               2.  The Soul is Where Sin Occurs

Ezekiel 18:20 (KJV) ²⁰ The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
·        It is the soul that sinneth.
·        It is our responsibility, no one made us do it.

III.      Death (15)

James 1:15 (KJV) ¹⁵ Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

               A.  Sin is Progressive, It Grows.

…and sin, when it is finished…       Finished = to bring to maturity, to become full grown.
Sin grows.  You do not control sin, it controls you.
               All Sins Grow in Our Lives.
o   Sins we do physically grow
o   Drinking, Drugs, Pornography etc.
o   Sins we do mentally grow
o   Unforgiveness, Anger, Frustration, Critical Thinking and Talking

Biblical Example:              Samson and Delilah

Samson thought he could do wrong and control the outcome.  He couldn’t and neither can you or I.

               B.           Sin Kills (15)

James 1:15 (KJV) ¹⁵ Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
                              1.  Sin Kills Physically
·        It puts its hand upon morality and kills it.
·        It puts its hand upon character and kills it.
·        It puts its hand upon health and kills it.
·        It is the great destroyer of the human race.
·        Every hospital, every prison, every battlefield, and every graveyard cries out that sin is deadly.
·        It kills.

God Says:

Genesis 2:16-17 (KJV) ¹⁶ And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: ¹⁷ But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Satan Says:

Genesis 3:4 (KJV) ⁴ And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

                              2.  Sin Kills Spiritually

It is our sin that sends the lost to Hell and it is the sin of the saved that kills their spiritual lives here on earth.

IV.       Steps to Change

               1.           Salvation

                              A.  Jesus is the Truth

John 8:32 (KJV) ³² And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

John 14:6 (KJV) ⁶ Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Why is salvation essential for change?

                              B.  Jesus Transforms

2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV) ¹⁷ Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:(metamorphis) old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Ill:           Darth’s Story

Romans 8:1-4 (KJV) ¹ There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath 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 sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: ⁴ That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Notice, transformation occurs to those who are IN CHRIST!

               2.  Surrender

In order to remain In Christ, we need to daily be surrendered to His will.

Example of The Model Prayer

Luke 11:1-2 (KJV) ¹ And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. ² And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

We are surrendered to God’s will; we are not trying to get God to surrender to our will!

Why is it important to surrender to the Spirit of God?

                              A.  The Flesh Fails

Romans 7:18-19 (KJV) ¹⁸ For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. ¹⁹ For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

                              B.  The Spirit Succeeds

Romans 6:16 (KJV) ¹⁶ Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

When we surrender to the Spirit we remain IN CHRIST…when you get a chance you should see what God has in store for us if we remain IN CHRIST!

Galatians 5:22-25 (KJV) ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, ²³ Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. ²⁴ And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. ²⁵ If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

               3.  Saturation

James 1:25 (KJV) ²⁵ But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

·        Looketh:  Stooped down and look

·        Perfect Law of Liberty:  God’s Transforming Word

·        Continueth:  to abide, to stay near, to remain.

                              A.  Saturation enables your mind to be transformed.

Romans 12:1-2 (KJV) ¹ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. ² And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

                              B.  Saturation enables you to know the will of God.

To change your actions, you must change your feelings, and to change your feelings you must change your thinking.

Conclusion:

The battle is already won.  Jesus won it on the cross.

1 Corinthians 15:57 (KJV) ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke 10:19 (KJV) ¹⁹ Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Romans 8:37 (KJV) ³⁷ Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Corrie ten Boom: “When I try, I fail; when I trust, He succeeds.