Ephesians 4:17-24

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.  ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.  ¹⁹ They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.  ²⁰ But that is not the way you learned Christ!--  ²¹ assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus,  ²² to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,  ²³ and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,  ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Throughout the years I have noticed that for many people Monday is the day to start new things…or to stop old things.  Monday seems to be a fresh start, a new beginning, a day to begin standing on a new foundation.  Whether the new diet starts on Monday, the new workout plan starts Monday, I’m going to stop smoking on Monday, or I’m not going to curse any more – starting Monday, it seems to correlate Monday as a new launching point.  I mean – how often does someone say, “This Wednesday I’m going to give up caffeine!”?

Unfortunately, statistics show that anything new started on Monday is usually long forgotten by Tuesday evening.  Studies also show that it takes 21 days to develop a new habit.  They also reveal that developing a new habit with a friend or developing an accountability partner increases success considerably.  So if we get a friend involved and we make it to Wednesday at noon, maybe we have a better chance of making it to day 21! 

We all live by habits.  We typically get up at a certain time, eat something similar for breakfast, and take a similar route to work every day.  We truly are habit driven.  Scripture calls us to put off our old selves – in other words – get rid of our old destructive habits; letting go of the habits that are of the flesh and not of God.  But we cannot get rid of one thing without replacing it with another.  We are also called to create new habits that are created “after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”  Our new habits need to make us look more like Christ, i.e. be more loving, be more patient, pray more, be in Scripture more, etc.

We are about half way through the year.  It seems like a long time ago, but did you make any New Year’s Resolutions?  How are you doing?  Did you give up by January 3? Or has your resolution become a habit?  Either way today is Monday – feel free to start once more!

I’m praying for you!

Pastor Amy