https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/EstablishingGoodHabits.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: II Peter 1:2-12<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. We spend a lot of time and money on education<\/p>\n A. We learn fundamental skills and search for information that makes us stand out in\nthe job market\n B. We teach our children, even when they whine and moan about school work, so\nthat they are prepared to take care of themselves.\n C. All our learning allows us to make rapid and accurate decisions. We can\ncommunicate them to others clearly. What once took hours to do can be done\nalmost by habit.\n D. Habits are just the rote response that we have instilled in ourselves. Whether they\nare good habits or bad habits depend on what we have taught ourselves.\n
II. Habits instilled in childhood last a lifetime.<\/p>\n A. Few of us need to think about how to walk. It is a habit well ingrained in our\nmemory.\n
B. Yet in childhood we also pick up moral habits – Proverbs 22:6<\/p>\n 1. In other words instill good, sound habits in your child so that when he is\nolder he need not think about it. He will do the right thing by habit.\n 2. Or another way to look at it, he will have to make a conscious decision to\ndo wrong.\n
C. These good moral habits are instill by repetitive application – Lamentations 3:25-30<\/p>\n 1. I have heard foolish parents say, “We want Johnny not to feel forced\ncoming to church, so we don’t make him go.” Hence, Johnny develops a\nhabit of missing services. What do you think Johnny does when he grows\nup?\n 2. I met one family who proudly said that they kept their children home when\nthey were little so as to not disrupt the services. Is it remarkable that not\none of their children were members of the church?\n
D. Youth is the time to instill good habits – Ecclesiastes 12:1<\/p>\n
1. Listen to the benefits bestowed – Proverbs 3:21-26<\/p>\n
III. If we are not careful the wrong habits are instilled.<\/p>\n A. In the days of Israel’s kings, a wicked woman decided to set herself up as queen of\nJudah. To accomplish this, she killed all the male grandchildren leaving no one left\nto inherit the throne when her son died.\n B. One grandson was saved by the high priest who took the young boy and raised\nhim. When he was seven years old, Jehoiada set him up as king. – II Chronicles\n24:1-2\n
1. Joash was a good king as long as Jehoiada was there to advise him.<\/p>\n 2. But it wasn’t goodness that Joash developed as a habit, but a habit of\nlistening to others. Not a good trait in a leader.\n C. When Jehoiada died, Joash began to listen to others who were evil – II Chronicles\n24:17-18\n 1. Even though God sent prophets to Joash, he would not listen. He already\ndeveloped a habit of following sin. – II Chronicles 24:19\n 2. Eventually Joash has the son of Jehoiada, Zechariah stoned for speaking\nagainst him – II Chronicles 24:20-22\n D. We must be careful to instill proper moral habits. Not ones that are only on the\nsurface, but ones that have roots deep into the person’s character.\n
IV. Habits can be developed even in later life.<\/p>\n A. People who never drank coffee as a child can’t start the day without it as an adult.\nA habit was developed.\n
B. But habits come from repetition – Proverbs 4:23-27<\/p>\n
C. Even bad habits can be broken with repeated good moral actions – I Peter 4:1-4<\/p>\n
1. At first, it takes a lot of conscious effort to stop an immoral action.<\/p>\n
2. You have to wrestle with your own inclinations.<\/p>\n
3. Yet, bad habits left uncheck brings sorrows – Proverbs 22:8<\/p>\n
D. It goes both ways – what you sow is what you reap – Hosea 10:12-13<\/p>\n 1. Galatians 6:6-10 – While we have opportunity, it is time to start sowing\nseeds of good morals so they may mature to solid moral habits.\n
2. Portia Nelson’s “Autobiography in Five Short Chapters”<\/p>\n a. Chapter One – I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the\nsidewalk. I fall in. I am lost . . . I am hopeless. It isn’t my fault. It\ntakes me forever to find a way out.\n b. Chapter Two – I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in\nthe sidewalk. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again. I can’t believe I\nam in the same place. But, it is not my fault. It still takes a long\ntime to get out.\n c. Chapter Three – I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole\nin the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in . . . it is a habit. My\neyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out\nimmediately.\n d. Chapter Four – I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in\nthe sidewalk. I walk around it.\n
e. Chapter Five – I walk down another street.<\/p>\n
E. Notice from our reading – II Peter 1:8-10<\/p>\n 1. With diligence (effort, work) we can make our calling certain by the\ncontinual practice of righteousness. In other words it is a habit to do what\nis right.\n
V. So what have you been doing with your life?<\/p>\n A. Are you giving in to the habit of sin? Or worse are you giving in to a habit of\ncomplacency?\n B. What bad habits are you working on breaking? What good habits are you working\non establishing?\n C. Today is an opportunity to start the best habit of all, walking the path of a\nChristian life.\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Peter 1:2-12 I. We spend a lot of time and money on education A. We learn fundamental skills and search for information that makes us stand out in the job market B. We teach our children, even when they whine and moan about school work, so that they are prepared to…<\/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":[119,1028,32],"tags":[665,1297,259,29,107],"class_list":["post-62320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-parenting","category-sermon","tag-child-rearing","tag-habits","tag-joash","tag-parenting","tag-raising-children"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":63220,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/parenting-toddlers-love-and-security\/","url_meta":{"origin":62320,"position":0},"title":"Parenting Toddlers: Love and Security","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Proverbs 3:13-26 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Toddlers \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A wonderful age. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Everything is a new and fresh delight \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Curious about everything \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0a.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Often into things forbidden, not because of maliciousness \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0b.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But curiosity with what is behind this, with what happens with that? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Beginnings of communications \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Relief! You now have clues\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":62417,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":62320,"position":1},"title":"The Children","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 25, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Scott Smelser The Family","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":62413,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/parenting-mistakes\/","url_meta":{"origin":62320,"position":2},"title":"Parenting Mistakes","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 24, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Scott Smelser The Family","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":49751,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/teach-your-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":62320,"position":3},"title":"Teach Your Children","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Warfel","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":53088,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-beloved-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":62320,"position":4},"title":"My Beloved Children","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Warfel, Jr. Lessons from Matthew","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":62721,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/parents\/","url_meta":{"origin":62320,"position":5},"title":"Parents","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 2, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Robert Speer The Home","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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62320","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=62320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62320\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}