How are you today? I have a question about doing what’s right in God’s eyes.<\/p>\n
I’ve made a few changes\u00a0this year. I am developing a habit of reading the Bible daily, praying, and reading biblical topics. When I do these things I have a good, if not great, day, but if I miss a day, I allow Satan to control me. I understand that every day we face many challenges and temptations, and it’s not easy to follow God, but am I doing the right thing?<\/p>\n
I am currently forming other habits, like holding a Bible when I’m tempted to think about lust. Sometimes, I even sleep with my Bible as a shield from the aforementioned.<\/p>\n
Do you have any spiritual advice? Is what I’m doing sincere or in vain? I’d love to seek your input.<\/p>\n
I must admit, as weird as it sounds, I am not a churchgoer. I do not feel comfortable there. Weird, but honest.<\/p>\n
Thanks for taking the time to read my e-mail. I hope to hear from you soon.<\/p>\n
May God bless.<\/p>\n\t
Basically, while you keep your mind on godly things, you tend to behave yourself. But without constant reminders you slip back into old habits. It is a shame that you don’t attend church services because that is what it is there to help you. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching<\/em>” (Hebrews 10:23-25). You reject the way God designed to keep people faithful and then substitute your own methods — which don’t work nearly as well.<\/p>\n By the way, I’m not talking about the entertainment that passes as worship in most denominations. I’m talking about meeting with true Christians who are sincerely striving to serve God and each other.<\/p>\n There is nothing wrong with forming good habits, but you are leaning toward making them like a superstition — like wearing a lucky hat when playing sports — using the physical Bible as a shield. “These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh<\/em>” (Colossians 2:23). Just as an example, what happens when there is no Bible available, do you excuse indulging in lust?<\/p>\n “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts<\/em>” (Romans 13:13-14).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The way to handle lust is to not make it easy to indulge in it. If pornography is your problem, then you make it hard for you to access it, while at the same time learn why it is wrong and how you are being manipulated. If lustful thoughts are a problem, then you learn to control your thoughts by focusing on other things.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: How are you today? I have a question about doing what’s right in God’s eyes. I’ve made a few changes\u00a0this year. I am developing a habit of reading the Bible daily, praying, and reading biblical topics. When I do these things I have a good, if not great, day, but if I miss a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1297,156],"class_list":["post-31532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-habits","tag-lust"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20223,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-keep-getting-strong-urges-to-cut-myself-i-know-it-is-wrong-but-am-i-lusting-for-what-is-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":31532,"position":0},"title":"I keep getting strong urges to cut myself. I know it is wrong, but am I lusting for what is wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I had read \"I'm obsessing over my sinful thoughts. What can I do?\" before, and it helped, but not completely. So I read it again last night, and still, it helped, but not completely. You see, I'm not just tempted to cut. When I get the urge to cut,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46791,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-not-certain-im-worthy-of-the-girl-i-want-to-marry\/","url_meta":{"origin":31532,"position":1},"title":"I’m not certain I’m worthy of the girl I want to marry","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I am a Hindu by religion. I am 21 years old and a college student. However, I believe in the Lord Jesus. I have been praying to him every day for the last seven or eight years. My family doesn't know about my faith in him. My problem\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5203,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-dont-seem-to-be-improving-what-can-i-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":31532,"position":2},"title":"I don’t seem to be improving. What can I do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I\u2019ve been a Christian for about twenty years now and am a member of the church of Christ. I would appreciate if you could answer some questions and help me with some issues I am having. I\u2019ve been examining myself lately, and I realize that I am a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36075,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-i-need-to-confess-my-every-lust-to-my-spouse\/","url_meta":{"origin":31532,"position":3},"title":"Do I need to confess my every lust to my spouse?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I first wanted to say thank you for posting these articles and questions\/answers. They are very encouraging and I am thankful for your commitment to scripture. I am a baptized Christian man in my mid-20s. My wife (also a baptized Christian) and I have been married for several\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62320,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/establishing-good-habits\/","url_meta":{"origin":31532,"position":4},"title":"Establishing Good Habits","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Peter 1:2-12 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We spend a lot of time and money on education \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We learn fundamental skills and search for information that makes us stand out in the job market \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We teach our children, even when they whine and moan about school work, so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38807,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/am-i-sinning-if-im-cursing-in-my-thoughts\/","url_meta":{"origin":31532,"position":5},"title":"Am I sinning if I’m cursing in my thoughts?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My boyfriend was just baptized and he's been struggling. He has a little bit of anxiety. He's been trying to work on his cursing. he's doing great. But he asked me a difficult question. He asked, \"Am I still sinning if I keep the cuss words in my brain?\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31532\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}