8 Habits That Are

Destroying Your
Walk With God
by D R . DAV ID J E R E MI A H

Have you fallen into bad spiritual habits?

God has equipped His children with everything they
need to live victoriously, but many Christians miss out
by falling into habits that disconnect them from God’s
power, perspective, and presence.
The first step to overcoming any obstacle is to identify
it. Give yourself a check-up and prepare to transform
your spiritual walk by recognizing eight common
enemies of spiritual growth.
 THE HABIT OF LAZINESS

Failing to do what’s
right is just as bad as
doing what’s wrong
Jesus told a story about a wealthy businessman who entrusted
three employees with managing vast sums of money while he “Well done, good
was away. The amount of money assigned to each employee and faithful
was determined by his capabilities. One man received roughly servant; you were
$2.5 million; another man received about $1 million, and
faithful over a
another man received approximately $500,000. When the boss
returned from his trip, he settled accounts with each employee. few things, I will
make you ruler
Two of the employees doubled their money, and each received
the same praise from the boss, “Well done, good and faithful over many things.
servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make Enter into the joy
you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord” of your lord”
(Matthew 25:21, 23). The third employee neither gained nor lost
money. He didn’t take any money for himself, and he gave an
honest accounting when his employer returned. This man buried
the money and dug it up when his employer returned. The
boss was not impressed. He called the employee “wicked and
lazy” and turned the money over to one of his other employees
(Matthew 25:26-28).

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It might be tempting to focus on the different amounts given to the different
employees, but that is not the point of this parable. Even the unprofitable
employee was entrusted with an awful lot of money while his boss was gone. The
employer’s only concern was how well each person managed what he had been
given. His two “good and faithful” employees received substantially different
amounts of money, yet he commended them equally for their gains. Meanwhile,
his “wicked and lazy” assessment of the third employee was based on a lack of
effort—the employee didn’t even deposit his money in a bank to earn interest.

This story illustrates our responsibility to take care of the Lord’s business while
He is away. He has entrusted the management of His affairs to each of us in
varying amounts. One day, He will return and conduct an accounting of every
resource He has given us—our wealth, our spiritual gifts, our reputation, our
abilities, our health, our time, our learning. Every resource we possess belongs to
Him (1 Corinthians 6:20). As in Jesus’ story, it doesn’t matter how many resources
we receive; what matters is how faithful we are with what we’ve been given.

It doesn’t matter how

many resources we
receive; what matters is
how faithful we are with
what we’ve been given.

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 THE HABIT OF HABITS

Responding to Christ’s
forgiveness means
giving up our old ways
In John 8:2-12, a woman who had been caught in the act of
adultery was brought before Jesus by a group of religious “Neither do I
leaders who were trying to trap Him. They tried to create a no- condemn you; go
win situation that would either put Jesus at odds with the laws and sin no more.”
of Rome or the Law of God. As the men pressed Him to judge
the woman, Jesus stated that whoever was “without sin” should
be the first one to condemn her. Realizing their trap had failed,
the men left one by one.

When the religious leaders had left, Jesus asked her, “Woman,
where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned
you?” She replied, “No one, Lord.” Now there’s a detail here
we need to understand. Earlier in the story, the men had called
Jesus “Teacher,” but this woman called Him “Lord.” That might
not seem important, but 1 Corinthians 12:3 says that no one
can call Jesus Lord, “except by the Holy Spirit.” So before this
conversation, something had to have happened in the woman’s
heart that caused her to understand to Whom she was speaking.
That change of heart prompted Jesus’ response, “Neither do I
condemn you; go and sin no more.”

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Please do not miss the importance of this lesson: Jesus did not tolerate her sin;
He forgave her because she was repentant. First Samuel 16:7 says, “Man looks at
the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Only God can evaluate
repentance. He examines our heart and gauges our sincerity before our actions
have time to catch up with our words. Once we accept His forgiveness, it becomes
our job to go and live a life that honors the One who has given us so much.

Repentance is not a one-time activity. Temptation exists all around us, so we

must make a habit of searching our heart for sin and turning from it. First John
1:9 promises, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Is there unconfessed sin in your life?
Take it to the Lord. Once you’ve been washed clean by Jesus, replace your sinful
habits with virtuous habits.

Repentance is not a one-time

activity. Temptation exists all
around us, so we must make a
habit of searching our heart for
sin and turning from it.

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 THE HABIT OF IGNORANCE

Acting like a Christian

is not enough
We live in a world where outward conformity to religion is sometimes substituted for the
genuine work of the Holy Spirit. It is possible to look like a Christian, to act like a Christian,
to talk like a Christian, to sing like a Christian, and not to be a Christian. Some people
spend a lot of time surrounded by Christians without knowing Jesus Christ as their Lord and
Savior. The requirements of the Christian life are simple to understand but hard to live out.

Studying the Bible is one of the best ways to know what is expected of us as Christians.
Jesus gave us a starting point when He said the most important commandment is to “love
the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew
22:37). From there, it becomes our job to plumb the depths of every book, every chapter,
and every verse of Scripture. Then armed with that knowledge, we must examine our heart
and test our devotion.

Another key to walking with God is the Holy Spirit. Second Corinthians 13:5 says,
“Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that
Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith” (NLT). One test
of genuine faith is what I call the automatic sin alarm system. Do you have one of those?
It’s also known as a conscience, and it is powered by the Holy Spirit. If the Spirit is in your
heart, He is going to make it very difficult for you to be comfortable with anything that
violates God’s Law.

Do not settle for ignorance. Study your Bible and listen to the Holy Spirit as you commit
your entire being to knowing the will of God.

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 THE HABIT OF IRRESPONSIBILITY

Losing God’s love is impossible,

but Christians can miss out on
the privileges of obedience
Jesus’ story about the Prodigal Son has been called the crown and the pearl of all the parables. In
this story, God is portrayed as a loving father who yearns for his son—us—to return home. When
the boy finally comes to his senses and returns to his father’s house, he receives compassion and
forgiveness far beyond what he deserves. It’s a beautiful picture of how eager God is to forgive, but
it also reminds us of the many blessings we give up when we wander away from our Father.

We don’t have to waste our fortune on wild living to remove ourselves from God’s protective care.
We place ourselves in peril when we are careless with everyday matters, like our words or our
attitude toward authority. Ecclesiastes 5:2 says, “Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your
heart utter anything hastily before God.” First Peter 2:13-15 says,

Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king
as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of
evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by
doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.

Speaking and acting recklessly places us outside of God’s will. That may be hard to accept, but it’s
right there in the Bible. So let me ask you this: What do your actions say to the world about the God
you serve? Do you honor God with your self-control or do you give people something to talk about?

Romans 5:17 says that Adam’s rebellion led to the death of many, but Christ’s obedience on the
cross provided a way for everyone to come back home to the Father’s house—“to triumph over sin
and death (NLT).” One person’s actions can make a world of difference. Don’t stay stuck in the
habit of irresponsibility; walk in the freedom that comes with spiritual discipline.

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 THE HABIT OF DISCOURAGEMENT

Persevering in our
Christian walk
requires prayer
If you scroll through the news, you’ll find reasons to be
discouraged, but the Bible contains hope: God is in control. “These things I
When Jesus was preparing for His death on the cross, He have spoken to
assured His disciples with these words, “These things I have you, that in Me you
spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you
may have peace. In
will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the
world” (John 16:33). the world you will
have tribulation;
How could Jesus expect the disciples to “be of good cheer”
when their hopes and dreams were about to be nailed to a but be of good
cross? Because Jesus had already claimed the victory, and they cheer, I have
knew the One in whom they had placed their trust (2 Timothy overcome the
1:12). They knew Him because they lived with Him, walked
world.”
with Him, and talked with Him. We can know Jesus just as
intimately—by living with Him in our heart, walking according
to His Word, speaking to God through prayer, and believing in
the resurrection power that emptied Christ’s tomb.

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At one point during Jesus’ ministry, His disciples asked Him how to pray. He gave
the Lord’s Prayer as a model, and then He provided these instructions:

So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find;
knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and
he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks
for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he
asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks
for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how
to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him! (Luke 11:9-13)

When we pray, we are to ask for specific, real-world needs. We are to ask
according to faith and not according to what we see happening. The disciples
failed that test when they underestimated the ability of one boy’s lunch to feed
five thousand people. Prayer is a matter of faith. It is trusting that God has the
power and the desire to meet our needs regardless of how things may seem.

Sometimes God allows us to wait for His answer so that our faith can mature.
Romans 8:25 says, “But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it
with perseverance.” Rejoicing over an answered prayer is appropriate, but having
the kind of spiritual maturity that allows God to trust us with answered prayers is
even more reason to rejoice. We’re wrapped up in the product; God is wrapped
up in the process. He wants us to be the kind of people who can be trusted with
answered prayers.

If you struggle with discouragement, recommit yourself to trusting God’s timing

and the power of prayer.

Prayer is a matter of faith. It is trusting that

God has the power and the desire to meet our
needs regard less of how things may seem.

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 THE HABIT OF COMPARISON

Highlighting our own strengths

while criticizing another’s
weaknesses is ungodly
The Pharisees made a career out of separating themselves from
society. They thought they were better than anyone else, and The Pharisees
they were confused about how one is justified before God. In made a career
Luke 18, Jesus told a story of two men—a Pharisee and a tax out of separating
collector—who were praying in the temple. The Pharisee made
themselves
a pretentious display of his prayer and used it to praise his
own efforts, “God, I thank You that I am not like other men— from society.
extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. They thought
I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess” (verses they were better
11-12). Meanwhile, the tax collector begged the Lord, “God, be
than anyone
merciful to me a sinner!” (verse 13)
else, and they
The Pharisee’s prayer gave no indication of repentance. He
were confused
thanked God for three sins that he did not commit, he thanked
God for one man to whom he cannot be compared, and he about how one is
thanked God for two good deeds that he continued to do. In justified before
contrast, the tax collector’s prayer mentioned only God and God.
himself. Rather than trying to impress God with good deeds, he
pleaded for mercy and received it.

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When we see someone caught up in sin, it is tempting to feel better about
ourselves. But Jesus’ parable shows that these comparisons lead to pride and a
false sense of godliness. We need God’s justification, not our own. None of us
obey God’s Law perfectly, which means we all fall short of His expectations
(Romans 3:20).

The Law reveals our sinfulness and our need for a Savior. As we draw closer to
the Lord, we become more aware of our own unworthiness. The tax collector
received forgiveness because he humbled himself and admitted his sin. The
Pharisee didn’t receive forgiveness because he was blind to his own immorality.

It’s entirely possible to be religious and not be right. Anything that makes us
feel better about our own sin is not our friend, and it never will be. The habit of
comparison will separate you from God and from other people. If you want to
be godly, compare yourself to Christ’s perfection. Admit your shortfalls and ask
Him for forgiveness.

The habit of comparison will separate

you from God and from other people. If
you want to be godly, compare yourself to
Christ’s perfection. Admit your shortfalls
and ask Him for forgiveness.

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 THE HABIT OF INDIFFERENCE

Neglecting the needs

of others ignores
Jesus’ example
In the story of the Good Samaritan, a priest and a Levite
discovered a half-dead man along the roadside. Preoccupied Compassion
with their temple duties, they passed by without stopping. Later means taking
a Samaritan came along, viewed the man with compassion, more than a
and stopped to help (Luke 10:30-36). The priest and Levite
passing interest
were involved in the service of God, but their actions revealed
a failure to understand what that looks like. Meanwhile the in the needs of
Samaritan, who wasn’t even allowed to enter the temple, others. It requires
demonstrated God’s love to the injured traveler. us to enter their
Serving God involves putting the needs of others ahead of our suffering.
own. In Jesus’ parable, the Samaritan risked his safety to help
the injured traveler, and he delayed his own plans. Not stopping
there, he allowed the man to ride his own animal, and then he
used his own resources to provide for the man’s needs. The
Samaritan delivered kindness at great personal cost.

Compassion means taking more than a passing interest in the

needs of others. It requires us to enter into their suffering. Three
times in the book of Matthew, Jesus is described as having

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 compassion for the physical needs of the people surrounding Him
(Matthew 9:36; 14:14; 15:32). As far back as Genesis 16, God
revealed Himself as El Roi, the God Who Sees Me, to a slave
woman named Hagar (verses 13-14). Serving El Roi means serving
others with compassion.

This parable of a helpless, half-dead man reminds us of how

humanity was lost in sin and doomed to death before God sent
Jesus to be our Deliverer—our Good Samaritan. Consider what
Ephesians 2:4-7 says:

God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love

with which He loved us, even when we were dead in
trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace
you have been saved), and raised us up together, and
made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ
Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the
exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us
in Christ Jesus.

It is possible to be so busy about the work of the kingdom that

we lose sight of the hurting people all around us. But our goal as
Christians is to love others like Christ loved us. Jesus came to this
earth to serve (Matthew 20:28), and He often lavished His attention
on outcasts. If we are serious about following in His footsteps, we
will replace the habit of indifference with brotherly kindness.

It is possible to be so busy about the work

of the kingdom that we lose sight of the
hurting people all around us. But our goal as
Christians is to love others like Christ loved us.

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 THE HABIT OF CONTEMPT

Rejecting Jesus’ authority

invites God’s judgment
One day when Jesus was teaching in the temple, He told
a story about evil tenants who made an agreement with a There are
vineyard owner to tend the man’s crops while he was away. religious people
They agreed to pay the owner out of the vineyard’s proceeds, who claim to
but later they refused to honor the agreement. Each time the
serve God while
owner sent someone to collect his rent, the tenants would beat
the messengers and sometimes kill them. Eventually they even rejecting His
killed the landlord’s beloved son. At the end of the story, Jesus lordship over their
said the owner would “come and destroy the vinedressers, and gifts and blessings.
give the vineyard to others” (Mark 12:9).
They want the
It’s enough to make you never want to own rental property, but benefits without
this story isn’t about landlords and tenants. It is about God’s
the accountability.
people. The owner of the vineyard is God; the vineyard is
Israel; the wicked tenants are religious leaders; the mistreated
servants are God’s prophets; the beloved son is Jesus Himself.
Drawing from a passage in Isaiah 5, Jesus was warning the
religious leaders of pending judgment—Israel and its religious
leaders had rejected God’s messengers and were about to reject
His Son.

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 There are religious people who claim to serve God while rejecting
His lordship over their gifts and blessings. They want the benefits
without the accountability. One author has said, “We reject the
claims of Christ not because we misunderstand them, but because
we understand them only too well.”1 The story of the evil tenants
reminds us what happens when we forget that we are custodians,
not owners, of what we have.

Loving God involves a lifestyle of obedience. God expects His

vineyard—His Church—to be an accepting, prayerful, forgiving,
devoted, loving fellowship that’s built around Jesus Christ. When it
becomes something else, we’re in danger of the same judgment as
the vinedressers.

There is a song that describes “The Wonderful Cross” on which

Christ died. It says, “Love so amazing, so divine / Demands my
soul, my life, my all.”2 Jesus gave His life for you, but does He
have your all? What are you holding back from Him? Accept His
amazing gift today and serve Him with everything you’ve got.

Loving God involves a lifestyle of obed ience.

God expects His vineyard—His Church—to be an
accepting, prayerful, forgiving, devoted, loving
fellowship that’s built around Jesus Christ.

1
R. A. Cole, The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: The Gospel According to St. Mark (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1976), 185.
2
Chris Tomlin, “The Wonderful Cross,” The Noise We Make, Sparrow Records, 2001, CD.

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