Replacing Bad Habits with Good Ones

Dang, I needed this article in my life. I need to figure out something good to replace my negative habits when they pop up. Linking the whole article because it was so good. 

 https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2024/06/digital-only-young-adults/where-are-your-habits-leading-you?lang=eng

Where Are Your Habits Leading You?

By Bradley Salmond and Kate Hansen

Church Magazines

Bad habits are often best overcome by replacing them with something good.

You might have a habit of using bad language in heated situations or having judgmental thoughts about others. The way that we talk in general, and even the way we talk and think about others, can impact our receptiveness to the Spirit. So be intentional about looking for the good in people. If you feel like gossiping, replace judgmental comments with something kind and uplifting.

When it comes to media, consider how the types of media you habitually consume are affecting your emotional and spiritual well-being. Think of the movies, books, TV shows, music, and social media you consume each day. How do they make you feel? How do they influence your thoughts? Do they bring you closer to the Savior?

What we choose to fill our lives with will influence how we think, speak, and behave, which determines our spiritual direction....

Think again about your habits or lifestyle. Are any of them harmful to you spiritually, physically, or emotionally? Susanna Wesley, mother of 18th-century Christian leaders John and Charles Wesley, suggested: “Take this rule: whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, takes off your relish for spiritual things, whatever increases the authority of the body over the mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may seem in itself.”

Consider what habits are distancing you from Christ. Choose one of those unwanted habits and commit to replacing it with a small and simple act that will bring you closer to the Savior.

Maybe you’ll try replacing negative self-comparison by jotting down things you’re grateful for.

Or you could replace time scrolling on social media with time spent on a walk with someone you love.

Whatever habits you choose to build or break, Jesus Christ will strengthen you as you work toward worthy goals. The daily changes you make will eventually change your nature and deepen your relationship with Him and Heavenly Father.

How We Treat One Another Truly Matters

 

God Knows and Loves You

By Elder Alan T. Phillips

Of the Seventy

How we treat one another truly matters. President Russell M. Nelson teaches, “The Savior’s message is clear: His true disciples build, lift, encourage, persuade, and inspire.”¹⁰ This is even more important when our fellow travelers feel lost, alone, forgotten, or removed....

We can heed President Nelson’s counsel to judge less, love more, and extend the pure love of Jesus Christ through our words and actions.

Integrity

 

Integrity: A Christlike Attribute

By Elder Jack N. Gerard

Of the Seventy

Integrity means we do not lower our standards or behavior to impress or to be accepted by others....

President Spencer W. Kimball taught, “Integrity” is our “willingness and ability to live by our beliefs and commitments.”

A life of integrity requires us to first and foremost be true to God....

Exercising integrity in our choices is an outward expression of an inner commitment to follow the Savior Jesus Christ....

Saying we have integrity is insufficient if our actions are inconsistent with our words...

Acting with integrity builds faith and trust and reassures others that we seek only to do the will of the Lord.

Be with People with Whom the Spirit Can Easily Dwell

 

Promptings of the Spirit

By Elder Gary E. Stevenson

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

What are the fruits of exercising spiritual gifts? They include promptings from the Spirit that help us face our daily needs and show us what to do and say and blessings of peace and comfort. As we listen and act on spiritual promptings, the Holy Ghost magnifies our abilities and capacities to far exceed what we can do on our own. These precious spiritual gifts will help us in every aspect of our lives.⁴

The constant companionship of the Holy Ghost is one of the greatest spiritual gifts Latter-day Saints enjoy....

If you hope to feel the Spirit, be with people with whom the Spirit can easily dwell....

Choose to be with people and go to places where righteousness is found. Find your strength in numbers. Find good friends. Be good friends. Support one another wherever you are. Stand with holy people.

Third, testify of holy truths as often as you can. The Comforter always shares His voice when we testify with our voice. The Spirit bears witness to the speaker and listener alike....

As you seek and take opportunities to share your testimony with others, you will create moments to recognize the Spirit for yourself.

Rays of Revelation

 

Pillars and Rays

By Elder Alexander Dushku

Of the Seventy

If we have received the gift of the Holy Ghost and are striving to exercise faith, repent, and honor our covenants, then we are worthy to receive these divine rays constantly. In Elder David A. Bednar’s memorable phrase, “we are ‘living in revelation.’”

My rays:

1. The NG tube coming out on my birthday

2. My dream about Kassie after her death

3. Peace after a pregnancy announcement

4. My family made the plane flight for the baby blessing

5. All of the spirit and testimony that Trek brought

6. Pain relief from social media prayers with my gallbladder

7. Tears after finishing the Book of Mormon for the first time

8. Gracyn's recovery

9. A text to the sister I minister to moments after her mom died. 

Faith in Jesus Christ

 

The Power of Jesus Christ in Our Lives Every Day

By Elder Joaquin E. Costa

Of the Seventy

At times, having faith in Jesus Christ may seem like something impossible, almost unattainable. We may think that coming unto Christ requires a strength, power, and perfection we don’t have, and we just can’t find the energy to do it all. But what I have learned from all these people is that faith in Jesus Christ is what gives us the energy to begin the journey....

We don’t come to Jesus because we are perfect. We come to Him because we are flawed and in Him we can “be perfected.”⁶

How do we begin exercising a little bit of faith every day? For me it begins in the morning: When I wake up, instead of looking at my phone, I say a prayer. Even a simple prayer. Then I read a scripture. This helps me with my weekly covenant that I make as I partake of the sacrament to “always remember him.”⁷ When I begin my day with a prayer and a scripture, I can “remember Him” when I do look at my phone. I can “remember Him” when I face problems and conflicts, and I try to face them like Jesus would....

Through my covenants I receive sanctifying, strengthening power of Jesus Christ, which allows me to become a new person, to forgive what seems unforgivable, to overcome the impossible. Intentionally remembering Jesus Christ always is powerful; it gives me added strength to “keep his commandments which he has given [me].”¹² It helps me to be nicer, to smile for no reason, to be a peacemaker,¹³ to avoid conflict, to let God prevail in my life....

President Nelson taught: “The reward for keeping covenants with God is heavenly power—power that strengthens us to withstand our trials, temptations, and heartaches better. … Thus, covenant keepers are entitled to a special kind of rest.”...

Faith in Jesus Christ is the feeling of peace to withstand the storm, knowing that we will not perish because He is in the ship with us....

Trusting God and keeping our covenants with Him bring power to our weakness and comfort to our grief.

Covenants and Study Footnotes

 

Put Ye On the Lord Jesus Christ

By Sister J. Anette Dennis

First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency

Covenants create the kind of relationship that allows God to mold and change us over time and lift us to become more like the Savior, drawing us closer and closer to Him and our Father and eventually preparing us to enter Their presence....

President Russell M. Nelson has taught that when we choose to make covenants with God, our relationship with Him can become much closer than it was before our covenant, and it enables Him to bless us with an extra measure of His mercy and love, a covenantal love referred to as hesed in the Hebrew language. The covenant path is all about our relationship with God—our hesed relationship with Him....

Through honoring our covenants, we enable God to pour out the multitude of promised blessings associated with those covenants, including increased power to change and become more like our Savior....

The Lord will teach us line upon line through the symbolism of the ordinances and covenants as we open our hearts and prayerfully seek to understand the deeper meanings....

I believe that my willingness to wear the holy garment becomes my symbol to Him. It is my own personal sign to God, not a sign to others....

Lord. Study the talks of our prophet (including the beautiful teachings in the footnotes of his talks, which most conference talks have).