Welcome to CF, J Daniel. I hope you will find your time here edifying.
When it comes to the basic reorientation away from the sinful life, I always reach first for the Desert Fathers and Mothers, the 3rd century and onward Egyptian, Syrian, and Palestinian monastics and ascetics who left us great wisdom in the collection known in English as "The Sayings of the Desert Fathers".
From St. Anthony, the Father of the Monks, we learn:
"Do not trust in your own righteousness, do not worry about the past, but control your eyes and your stomach."
"Our life and our death are with our neighbor. If we gain a brother, we have gained God, but if we scandalise our brother, we have sinned against Christ."
"He who wishes to live in solitude in the desert is delivered from three conflicts: hearing, speech, and sight; there is only one conflict for him and that is with fornication."
Similarly, Abba Ammonas (St. Amun), a disciple and successor of the above St. Anthony, once explained the "narrow and hard way" of Matthew 7:14 in the following way:
"The 'narrow way and hard way' is this: to control your thoughts, and to strip yourself of your own will, for the sake of God. This is also the meaning of the sentence, 'Lo, we have left everything and followed you.'" (Matthew 19:27)
