Newbie trying to kick old habits...

[tigger04]

hiya's...i was just re-born into a christian in august and didn't have a very christian life before..well basically i followed the crowd and in my area thats not to smart ....well to cut to my question...how do other people avoid temptations and have courage to not sin..i know everyone sins...but my old habits come and present themselves and i try really hard to not do them but sometimes i fall into them and i know i hurt God....i was just wonderin what advice some people would have for me.....

thanks a bunch,
--nicki

 

[malkin]

hm. well, that's tricky, but I just try and divorce myself from my old habits... if your old friends are trying to get you to go out and 'have some fun', then you could try saying "No, I don't want to do that any more." and then when they say why: "I've been doing some thinking lately and I don't think it's right for me to do that." If you feel comfortable with telling them about God, then do so.

 

[VivDaGurl]

Welcome to the Family Of God! It's good to hear a new born Christian and especially they realised that they need to filter out the bad habits they've developed!

Here, are two things that you can try out:-
- Grow in the Lord and learn more about Him each day by reading the Bible (as a new Christian, do start reading on the four Gospels, Mark, John, Matthew and Luke), pray (God loves to hear us) and fellowship with other believers.
- You gotta learn to say the two letter word, "NO"! You gotta know whether what is right and what is wrong and be firm with your stand. When your friends asked you to do something you knew is wrong, explain to them that you are not going to do it and why. If you are you tempted into doing somethings, pray and ask God to give you the strength to go against all these. If God is for you, who can go against you? No one! It's your own willpower to fight this through.
I'll for you that God will give you the strength and willpower to get this through.

 

[tigger04]

thank you both so much for your help .....i have cut alot of my friends out of my life.....they dont' seem to understand since all of them have called me names behind my back..even my supposed best friends ..well even my cousin who used to be like my sister called me a sinner for going from catholic to christian and fighting with me...and my mother..ok basicaly everyone but my sister is arguing with me...i only pray and wish they found God and knew him like me ...it's just hard to see them and fight with my family all the time ...i will try harder and read more of my bible and see what the good book has about temptation...
thanks...
---nicki

 

[Rafael]

Keep reading the Bible and find friends with a like mind towards God. There are wonderful activities to get envolved in, and some of the Christian music today is absolutely top notch in all catagories.
The world will always try to press you into its mold, but we can overcome it with His word and daily prayer.
The old nature will fight the spirit within you till the day you go home with the Lord, but we overcome by His indwelling Spirit, who helps us bear the fruit of the spirit that are opposite of those of the flesh. Keep trying, and let that be your testimony of never giving up on Jesus or yourself (the real you born of God inside which cannot sin). The old you will sin at the drop of a hat unless the spirit in you rises up with each new day to put on the armor of God and carry the sword of His Word against it and the devil. Keep on fighting and you will have the ultimate victory. NEVER feel condemned. Confess your sins, ask forgiveness, and move on towards the goal you have in Christ with expectation and joy. Someday we will sing God's favorite song together. The song of the redeemed.

Ga 5:17 The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict.

Ro 12:2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.

Ro 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Php 3:13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,

 

[LegomasterJC]

It is important that you can not do it yourself. You need God's help to defeat old sins.
Some things that help though are staying focused on "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, admirable, think about such things." philippians 4:8
Meditate on the word, talk to God, worship. When you are close to Him, it is much more difficult to stray to your old ways. If you just stay on the fence though, watching TV, hanging out with the same people doing the same things that may not be horrible but are not of God, you will fall sometimes.

 

[HotRhymez]

Yeah dude I know what it's like to be stuck in temptation and sin like crazy...I can't go thirty seconds without swearing...all I can do is just pray and read the Bible, knowing someday God will help me out of sin.

 

[Sketcher]

Getting out of situations where I'm tempted in the first place helps me. Also, for deeper and harder issues, there are a few good books for dealing with them specifically. I don't read women's books, I just know there are a few good titles out there and my experience with some of the books for men is that there is a lot of good advice out there for kicking temptations.

Remember, the best books have the Bible as their foundations and if they teach something contrary to Scripture, they are not good books. Practical advice is good, but Scripture is best.

 

[rogsr]

Since, everyone has give you such great advice I'll just give you are scripture....

Jesus said, "If your right hand causes you to sin then cut it off, because it is better to walk into the kingdom of heaven without your right hand than to be cast into hell with both hands." (paraphrased for your enjoyment).

Peace-

 

[malkin]

Make sure that your family knows that you still love them, and always will. They may think that Pentecostalism is a cult, otherwise.

 

[Tavita]

Nicki,
Have you been baptised in water yet? And being baptised in the Holy Spirit will give you more power to overcome in your life. As you are filled with the Spirit and learn to walk in the Spirit, He will give you a greater desire from your heart to lay aside the old ways. Just keep on seeking all that Jesus has for you, and God bless you on your new journey in life, with Him.

 

[Tavita]

thank you both so much for your help .....i have cut alot of my friends out of my life.....they dont' seem to understand since all of them have called me names behind my back..even my supposed best friends ..well even my cousin who used to be like my sister called me a sinner for going from catholic to christian and fighting with me...and my mother..ok basicaly everyone but my sister is arguing with me...i only pray and wish they found God and knew him like me ...it's just hard to see them and fight with my family all the time ...i will try harder and read more of my bible and see what the good book has about temptation...
thanks...
---nicki

If they try to argue with you, Nicki, don't argue back, just love them and go out of your way to bless your mother.

 

[Tie]

be positive and always try to turn a negative in to a positive..

no matter what you have done it's all the same where all human.

pray alot always

dwell on him

and dont get hard on yourself about doing old habits
instead turn away from them as if you are not going to do it again
and then try even harder pray more read more praise more
and eventually you will find that God is all you think about.

 

[Radagast]

...i was just re-born into a christian in august and didn't have a very christian life before..well basically i followed the crowd and in my area thats not to smart ....well to cut to my question...how do other people avoid temptations and have courage to not sin..i know everyone sins...but my old habits come and present themselves and i try really hard to not do them but sometimes i fall into them and i know i hurt God....i was just wonderin what advice some people would have for me.....

Paul says in Colossians 3:

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

So read the Bible, pray, sing, spend time with other Christians, and focus on what is good.

-- Radagast

 

[tigger04]

thank you all again for your help and scripture passages.....it's all really helped...the other day i broke down and apologized for something i did in my past that i knew was wrong but still did it and wanted God to forgive me and help me not to do it...well every since then alot of good things have been happening ...i've been working really hard to get money to get my new car(if people can also pray for that one too..pm for explanation) and in the last 4 days i've been getting more hours at work and money is just popping up....so that kinda was a wake up call to me that God actually listens to us and our prayers...and the other day my cousin started to fight with me and goin to a non catholic chruch and how i was a sinner and so forth...she thought i was like in a cult..so i explained to her i still believed and praised God but in a different way that worked very well for me......my mom..well she's another story..long story...pm me for details if anyone can help me pray for her..she really needs ...God Bless


--nicki

 

[issa]

a lot of people care about you brother! just hang in there!

you know what my friend did? he started living in the church! he worked there until he matured enough to make a firm stand..talk with your pastor about it. a change in environment could help a lot if it is feasible for you.

there are seminars/books that can help too.
one that helps a lot is bruce wilkinson's 'personal holiness in times of temptation'
it really helps build up a believer! it has a seminar and book. but your church probably has its own program for helping the believer so it is better if you can work with them.

of course, having an accountability partner and bible studies will be pretty useless if you dont pray about it. when you do, nothing will be impossible and God can use you mightily.