How to Defeat Harmful Habits (Counseling Through the Bible Series) (4 page)

T
he thrill of victory…and the agony of defeat!”
¹
This is the universal experience of the athlete—the heart-racing thrill of finishing first, the gut-wrenching angst of finishing last. But before athletes can even enter competition, they must first train the mind…tighten the muscles…toughen the body.

However, even athletes—considered models of self-control—can allow harmful habits to slip into their lives and sabotage their valiant efforts for victory. Self-control must not only be mastered, but also sustained. And as it is with athletes, so it is with us: If we are going to win in the game of life, we must have strict discipline. The apostle Paul made that point clear:

“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training”

(1 C
ORINTHIANS
9:25).

Have you ever watched athletes competing in the Olympics and thought almost in disbelief,
How on earth can they do that? It seems impossible!
Whether it’s a figure skater performing a leap with four 360-degree revolutions or a gymnast doing a series of backflips atop a narrow balance beam, one after another, we ask with amazement, “How is that possible?”

The answer isn’t rocket science. It’s practice, practice, practice. Developing the habit of doing a simple half turn again and again and again until it feels natural, until it can be done, in essence, without thinking.

Consider, for example, the biathlon. (In Greek,
bi
means “two” and
athlon
means “contest.”)
²
It’s a curious combination of events—cross-country skiing and rifle sharpshooting. One is aerobic, requiring speed, strength, and stamina. The other is stationary, requiring stillness, sight, and steady hands. These carefully honed skills developed by the Scandinavians in hunting and winter warfare led to the inauguration of this skiing/shooting sport in the 1960 Winter Olympics.

Training for the biathlon can be treacherous, particularly because of the hazardous effects of staying outdoors in continuously cold weather. Therefore, specialized physical conditioning is absolutely mandatory. A 31-year-old policeman from Norway developed highly productive habits to prepare himself for the 1968 Winter Olympics. And his disciplined fitness regimen got the world’s attention.

Those who tenaciously train in this way can identify with these figurative words spoken by the apostle Paul:

“I beat my body and make it my slave”

(1 C
ORINTHIANS
9:27).

He was a dark horse on the glistening white snow…

Magnar Solberg was far from being a favorite to win a medal at the Olympics in Grenoble, France. In fact, he wasn’t even considered a serious competitor in the winter biathlon.
³
But he developed all the necessary habits that would enable him to train and qualify for the event—habits that included building leg and upper body strength, exercising in high-altitude environments, and sharpening precision skills in shooting.

But there was one habit that set Solberg apart from all the other skiers and shooters, and this particular exercise was conducted in blistering heat rather than blustery cold. Whether training for an athletic event or facing any other major challenge that requires us to shed old habits and adopt new ones, these words are most appropriate: “Let us discern for ourselves what is right; let us learn together what is good” (Job 34:4).

•
Habits
are learned patterns of behavior or attitudes repeated so often they become typical of a person. In the New Testament, the Greek word
manthano
means “to learn” (in any way) or to “get into the habit.”
⁴

“Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good”

(T
ITUS
3:14).

–
Habits
are based on thinking, and reflect the heart. The Greek word
hodos
, meaning a “natural path or way,” is used metaphorically in Scripture to mean “a course of conduct or way of thinking.”
⁵
“Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways” (Hebrews 3:10).

–
Habits
, when based on trusting God, result in being consistently on the right path. The Hebrew word
derek
, usually translated as “way” or “road,” means “habit or habitual way of behavior.”
⁶
“Trust in the L
ORD
with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

•
Addictions
are a compulsive, enslaving dependence on something, resulting in detrimental patterns of thinking and behaving. There are
substance addictions
(e.g., alcohol, tobacco, heroin, inhalants) and
process addictions
(e.g., gambling, eating, shopping, sex).

“A man is a slave to whatever has mastered him”

(2 P
ETER
2:19).

–
Addictive habits
, when based on deceitful desires, result in a corrupt way of life. The Greek noun
anastrophe
, usually translated “life” or “way of life,” means “one’s conduct or behavior.”
⁷
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires” (Ephesians 4:22).

–
Dual
or
poly addiction
refers to dependence on two or more addictions at the same time. The Greek word
poly
, translated “many,” when used with addictions, means being dependent on multiple behaviors or substances. “God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity…to shameful lusts…to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done” (Romans 1:24,26,28).

Typically strugglers have multiple addictions because one addictive “high” firing in the brain makes them highly susceptible to another addiction. Each addiction impacts the brain, training it to want the same chemical effect again and again. For example, when sexually acting out, dopamine (the “feel good” chemical) is released in the brain, then soon after, the body craves more. Both alcohol and crack cocaine can increase dopamine release. When the high of one addiction begins wearing off, the high of another replaces the craved chemical effect in the brain.

The rationale is often this:
If one addiction feels good, two will feel better. If two are better, three will feel great. Do anything to keep the highs coming!
Thus goes the logic of those who have given control of themselves to mood-altering addictions.

“They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity…they invent ways of doing evil…they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless”

(R
OMANS
1:29-31).

Solberg’s coach for the biathlon used a bizarre training technique to prepare his student. In Solberg’s own words: “On purpose, my coach placed the shooting stand right in the middle of an anthill. When I shot from this stand on hot summer days, my legs were immediately covered with ants. This was very disturbing, especially when they reached my face.”
⁸

Solberg’s coach wasn’t trying to
torture
the initially befuddled biathlete; he was trying to
toughen
him. He reasoned that if Solberg could learn to shoot precisely with hundreds of ants crawling all over him, “distractions” would be the least of their worries during the Olympic sharpshooting event.

And if we need to cultivate a new habit in life, we too are called to not be distracted: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).

The natural inclination of the average person lying in an anthill would be to quickly get up and feverishly brush off the tiny, troublesome insects. But Solberg overcame this inclination, first in his mind and then in his behavior. He ignored the sting and focused on the target. He trained his mind to check his natural inclination so he might develop the habit of mentally blocking anything that might distract him from his goal.

An unchecked natural inclination generally follows this progression:

•
Inclination
—A natural desire that compels a person to act a certain way under a given set of circumstances. The Bible says everyone comes into this world with the natural inclination to sin.

“Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies”

(P
SALM
58:3).

•
Impulse
—A sudden, spontaneous inclination to act impetuously
⁹

“Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart”

(E
CCLESIASTES
5:2).

•
Habit
—A pattern of behavior acquired by frequent repetition
¹⁰

“They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices [habits]”

(2 K
INGS
17:40).

•
Obsession
—A persistent, disturbing preoccupation with an unreasonable idea
¹¹

“In my obsession against them [Christians], I [Paul] even went to foreign cities to persecute them”

(A
CTS
26:11).

•
Compulsion
—An irresistible, irrational impulse to act against one’s own will
¹²

“The man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will…this man also does the right thing”

(1 C
ORINTHIANS
7:37).

•
Addiction
—A compulsive, overpowering dependence on an object, an action, or a feeling, resulting in major life problems
¹³

“Teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good”

(T
ITUS
2:3).

With their eye on the gold medal, winter biathletes like Magnar Solberg cover a predetermined distance on skis, carrying bolt-action .22 rifles with nonoptical sights. Then they stop at a target range and lie down in the prone position while firing five shots. Shots that miss the target are penalized by adding time to an athlete’s overall performance or by adding extra ski laps. The skiers then race around another lap and return to the range to shoot five more rounds, this time standing up. The pattern is then repeated, depending on the format of the race and whether the competition is for individuals or a team.

Obviously, those who have disciplined habits that enable them to sharpen their skills are more likely to win. The apostle Paul, who frequently used sports analogies, says this about believers who go into strict training:

“They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever”

(1 C
ORINTHIANS
9:25).

Now, habits can be like seesaws—they can either push you up or pull you down. To determine the degree to which your habits are good or bad, helpful or harmful, look at Scripture and see what conclusions you come to.

G
OD’S
H
EART ON
H
ABITS