“The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.”-Samuel Johnson
There is something about bad habits that keep us bound to them. Aside from the pleasure we derive from them, it is the thought that we can control them and that at any moment we desire, we can break free from them.
We think that we can set boundaries to bad habits that can ensure our safety. We convince ourselves that we would only allow ourselves to taste a little now and then and that there can be no harm to these things that we do.
Sooner or later however, we find out that we become more addicted to its pleasures. We sink deeper and deeper, craving more and more until what desired to control has eventually gained control over us.
Do not be ensnared from the very beginning. It is a deception to think we can overcome such a great fire when we are already burning through and through. Every fire begins with but a spark. Let us extinguish it before it grows into a flame we could never put out.
Therefore let’s also… lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us… looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it; lest there be any sexually immoral person, or profane person, like Esau, who sold his birthright for one meal. – Hebrews 12
The thing about hope is that it’s a positive force that shines the most when it’s dark. When everything’s going well, we hardly notice it’s there. But when things go against us, when our dreams fade and when we see no immediate reprieve from our troubles, that’s when hope does its best work for us.
"Where Hope Can Be Found"