Personal Reflections on The Habit of Sin and The Habit of Submission

13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Romans 7:13-25

It seems to me that any believer in Christ our Lord and savior has experienced this struggle. The struggle to not sin, by submitting entirely to the Lordship of Christ in all areas of their lives, including their mind and heart, and yet finding themselves sinning--again. It really isn't that strange when I think about it. Even in my thoughts, sin can happen so fast, it makes my head spin. I am constantly surprised at how weak I am in the flesh, and how much I need Christ in all areas of my life, in every moment.

There are moments that I am disgusted at myself, because I seem to desire what is wrong, and I know that it is Jesus Christ alone that saves me from death in sin. It is God's grace alone that brings me to the submission of my life to the Lordship of Christ, and discipleship in Him. And yet, I still experience moments where the total depravity of my fallen self, rears its ugly head. In those moments I feel lost, and abandon, and I would remain so if it wasn't for confession and repentance. And out of the Holy Spirit's conviction, I confess to the Lord, thanking Him for His death, burial, and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins. I then submit all of my life to Christ--again, even and especially the areas of sin and doubt and my fallen nature...and so what about the habits of sin and the habit of submission?

It seems that God works in our heart and in our mind with what Charles Duhigg was referring to in his book, "The Power of Habit." Considering so much of our lives are lived automatically, why would our slow sanctification and the transformation by the renewing of our mind be exactly what is referred to in understanding habits?

If it is my habit to fall every morning to a habit of laziness and procrastination, how might our understanding of habit help me see my sin, confess, and repent toward a habit of productivity, contentment, and punctuality, which would glorify God and enjoy Him? Is this not walking by faith in His promises?

Renewing our mind through daily discipleship is a choice we make, when we have counted the cost of discipleship and choose all of Christ for all of our life. This is God's grace in your regenerated heart, which is why we believed in Jesus Christ our Lord and savior and pursue Him in faith. Considering how much of our lives are filled with habits (not all of them bad, but many of them in need of adjusting or even complete overhaul), it is no wonder that we ought to start at the beginning of our day in creating a habit of submission over the habit of sin.

This may look different for each person, but my guess is that you are renewing your mind in some worldly way in the morning, and it ought to be renewed in Christ through worship, scripture, prayer, journalling, exercise, and love. When we trade a habit for a habit, it works much better when you stack it on a good habit that you have maintained for years, like, brushing your teeth or drinking coffee or taking a shower. These small habit stacking processes can grow into robust God-honoring practices that not only trade a bad habit of phone scrolling or listening to the news or looking at your emails into singing along with a Psalm, reading a chapter of scripture, praying through the Lord's prayer format, and then writing down your thoughts about the aforementioned engagements with the Lord. This has a powerful way of transforming us by the renewing of our mind, literally changing our worldview into what God has intended in our creation, right down to the synapses of thought in our brain.

Will you fail?

Sure, some days you will miss, and other days you will feel like it is a rote, box-checking-protocol with no life, but rest-assured your original worship of the news, or the phone, or looking at your emails was just as worldview changing and had just as many (if not more) rote, box-checking experiences. At the end of the day, and more importantly at the end of the year, you will have collected 365 faith-filled, God-honoring practices that have submitted your life to God, worshipping the only One worthy of our worship, and that alone is a transformational act.

However, the change that you will experience in your self, your home, your community, and your church may be the most shocking part of trading our habits of sin (missing the mark), with a habit of submission to the Lord of all of heaven and of earth and of life and of death. Does He not bless His children? Does He not clothe us? What do you have to lose?

Only your soul. Let us daily confess our sins readily and quickly, repent (by turning to the Lord), believe in Jesus Christ our Lord and savior, and then go, therefore, and make disciples of nations (by counting the cost and becoming daily disciples of Christ), baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all of His commands. For He is with us to the end of the age. (paraphrase Matthew 28:18-20)

Just because we are in a fleshly body that is prone to sin and death, does not mean we cannot continually and daily make a habit of submission to the Lord. There will be struggles between old sin nature and sinful habits, but there is hope and life in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. Embrace His sacrificial love all the more, and do not embrace the condemnation that will come from the evil one, but embrace the love and forgiveness of Christ. Confess and repent of your sin, and set up habits that submit those areas to the Lordship of Christ. Think like a wise, warring King, and set yourself up for success by learning your old, sinful habits, so that you may trade them for habits of submission to Christ.