How to Say No to a Stubborn Habit

Don't Give Up-You Can Still Break Free You've prayed. You've surrendered your sin to God. You've been more zealous about reading the Bible. But what do you do when you still can't shake your bad habits? After discouragement and defeat set in, you need a dose of genuine hope and some biblical, time-tested guidance on breaking free for good. More than just offering simple suggestions for behavioral change, How to Say No to a Stubborn Habit will help you overcome the struggles in your life through a lasting transformation of attitude and heart. Dr. Erwin Lutzer shows you • the three essential ground rules you must accept to truly change • the secret to doing away with tempting thoughts rather than rehearsing them • the roles of God, Satan, and your loved ones in your success or failure You've resolved to break a stubborn habit. With the help of biblical insights and reflection questions in every chapter, you will discover the grace, courage, and wisdom to step out of the past and into a more hope-filled future. Discover the grace, courage, and wisdom you need to break stubborn habits and step into a more hope-filled future. Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer is pastor emeritus of The Moody Church, where he served as the senior pastor for 36 years. He is an award-winning author of many books, including We Will Not Be Silenced, and the featured speaker on two radio programs heard on more than 750 outlets worldwide. He and his wife, Rebecca, have three grown children and eight grandchildren and live in the Chicago area. FOREWORD by Jack Hibbs Why are stubborn habits so difficult to break? That's the question we grapple with every time we find ourselves pulled down by a habit or a sin we desperately want to overcome. No matter how determined we are, no matter how earnest our hearts, we fail. And we end up at square one all over again. Even though we know what is wrong and we're eager to do what is right, it seems we cannot escape the alluring clutches of a bad habit. You may feel all alone in your struggle, but you're not. You're in good company. The apostle Paul-who wrote much of the New Testament and was used mightily by God-faced the exact same dilemma. Even after he had been a Christian for more than two decades, he expressed great frustration over the inward battle we all face with sin. Read carefully what he wrote: What I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do…For I know that in me (that is, my flesh) nothing good dwells…For the good I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice…O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death? (Romans 7:15, 18-19, 24). Paul wanted to do what was right, but found himself doing wrong-to the point he cried out, "Who will deliver me?" And his next words hold the key to breaking a stubborn habit: "I thank God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (verse 25). Breaking free is only possible because of what God has made available to us through Christ. That's why the Bible can make the great promise that it does in 2 Peter 1:3: "His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness." More simply, God has given us everything we need to live a godly life. Now, that doesn't mean the answer to breaking a stubborn habit is simple. It's not. There's more Paul wrote in Romans 7 that helps to explain our ongoing struggles: I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members (verses 22-23). As long as we live in our fallen bodies of flesh, we're going to find ourselves at war. We will always be vulnerable to temptation and sin. But that doesn't mean we have no choice but to surrender in defeat. So what's the key to victory? That's what this book is all about. In it, Erwin W