2026-02-06
Good morning, Dear Ones,
Our Lord is so much wiser than a trained human psychologist and He has instructed us to make changes in our behavior to allow us to conform to His ethics. This isn’t easy for us, because our sinful nature leads us to using foul language, committing all kinds of crimes, and exhibiting lack of love for our fellow humans, even blaspheming God. We have all sinned from time to time because we were born with sin from the original sin [GN 3: 1-6] and our own sins are added to it. The only way out of this predicament came from our God, Who loves us enough to have given His only begotten Son on the cross as a propitiation for it [JN 3: 16]. When people reject Him, this amazing sacrifice is wasted—the greatest tragedy ever. When people embrace the teaching in the Scriptures, they can be released from the marketplace of slavery to sin and can anticipate eternal life.
Forming good habits only comes with connecting the mind, which is being renewed [RO 12: 2], connects with the heart, that is being changed from stone [EZK 36: 26-27], to the hands that do -good deeds, which God has already prepared for us to do [EPH 2: 10]. It begins by making oneself work a new behavior into his schedule. Increasing the new behavior each week will eventually form a habit of it. For example, I’m trying to get rid of the habit of swearing when frustrated. I am trying to substitute the word “sugar” rather than a four- letter oath at these times. Since my old habit is well worn, it isn’t easy. There are times when I have failed and I know not to beat myself up (negative self-talk) when I fail but to keep on trying to institute the new habit. Learning to have a good sense of humor helps.
Of course, there are much more serious sins than cursing, and we are seeing greed, drugs, alcohol, guns not used for compassionate reasons, violence, sexual misconduct, and many other sins in our society. The only One who can solve all these problems is God Himself. That doesn’t mean giving up; it means addressing them as is possible. Our God has the power to transform us through love. It is clear to me that God has given each person free agency, so that he can decide for himself how willing to change his behavior he is. In getting a fresh start with our relationship with God, we must first be willing to submit to Him and then repent of our sins. AC 3: 19, “Repent, then, and turn to God, as that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” 1 JN 1: 9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” God then transforms us through His love and our faithful obedience to His teaching. The next step is to spend our time practicing goodness and kindness. TITUS 3: 14, “Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives.” GA 6: 9, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
While we can be confident.
"that God, Who began a good work in us will carry it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” [PHIL 1:6], we must never become complacent. It takes practice to instill a new habit that God has commanded us to have. JN 13: 34-35 is an example. “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you much love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” This is deceptively simple, because many times we encounter very people who make it hard for us to do this. Another problem is that some people think God is out to get them. These notions get in the way of our obedience to this command. Only strong faith and maturity will allow us to have the insight to know who can be loved and who can’t. That wisdom comes from life’s experience and God Himself. JAS 1: 2-4, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trial of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete not lacking anything.”
PRAYER: O Lord, we kneel before Your mighty throne, acknowledging our need to appeal for your help. Our desire is to get rid of our old selves, which are led by our flesh, and put on new selves, led by Your Spirit [2 COR 5: 17; RO 7: 6]. This process isn’t easy for us but for Your sake and that of others around us, we know we must persist in coming closer to You.
Our hearts are lifted in knowing You love us enough to hear our prayers and answer them. You deserve nothing less than our loyalty, love, honor, praise, and thanksgiving. It is with hope and joy in our hearts that are trying to be Your light shining from a hill shining before others [MT 5: 16] in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: Humility is an essential part of being transformed by our loving God. Pride and refusal to acknowledge our need to put off our old selves gets in the way of it. Having an active, dynamic relationship with God is what the great people in the Bible did. Humility is a step we must take to do that. It will be the subject of next week’s devotion. HE 12: 1-2, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith.” Praise and thanksgiving be to Him!”
Grace be with you always,
Lynn JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2026. All Rights Reserved.
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