habits

Old Habits, New Habits

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For most of my work life I have not had to “punch the clock,” meaning clocking in and out daily at a time clock. I’ve either recorded my time on a paper form on a weekly or bi-weekly basis or entered the number of hours I worked through a company timekeeping application.

So when I began a new job that required me to once again use a time clock, it was difficult to remember that my first stop of the day should be to clock in. I don’t really have trouble remembering to clock out to go to lunch and back in when I return, nor do I have trouble remembering to clock out at the end of the day.  But clocking in each morning has become a frustrating exercise for me, because I keep forgetting and have to ask my supervisor to clock me in.

You see, even though my supervisor is very gracious about clocking me in when I forget to do it myself, I feel that it should be my responsibility. This is a new, necessary habit I should be developing.

So, that got me to thinking, what exactly is a habit? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary has several definitions of the word habit. Let’s look at just two:

  • An acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary
  • An addiction

In the spiritual realm, humans by nature tend toward addiction. Our natures compel us toward sin. We are addicted to sinning and nothing short of divine intervention can change this habit of sinning. However, let’s keep one thing in mind regarding addiction: it is necessary that the addicted one makes the choice to end the power addiction has over his or her life. It may not be possible to end it without outside help, but the addiction cannot be overcome until the addicted one chooses that the addiction will no longer have control over them. Remember also, that while an addicted person may no longer choose to allow their addiction to have sway over their life, the addiction itself remains and can regain control without daily, determined effort on the person’s part.

Spiritually our natures are wicked. The Bible says this repeatedly:

“All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Psalm 14:3 NIV).

“The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that He had made human beings on the earth, and His heart was deeply troubled” (Genesis 6:5, 6 NIV).

“For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders” (Matthew 15:19 NASB 1995).

“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue has muttered perversity. No one calls for justice, nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; they conceive evil and bring forth iniquity. … Their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths” (Isaiah 59:1–4, 6, 7).

Until we recognize what we are and choose to no longer allow sin to have domination over our lives, we will continue to sin. But understand this is not like choosing to wear red socks or blue socks today; once you make the choice, you wear those socks. This choice is an ongoing effort. I am afflicted with this spiritual habit of sinning. I can choose to change this habit, but it is rare that one chooses to change a habit (going cold turkey) and then tomorrow or next week or next year, there is no future temptation.

Let’s look at our first definition of habit – an acquired mode of behavior. Acquired suggests doing or having done something: learning, developing, gaining, or achieving as a result of one’s choosing until it becomes completely involuntary; until we do it without thinking or because to not do it would be unthinkable. Let’s look at some examples from the Bible of individuals who cultivated/achieved the habit of doing what was right.

DANIEL

“Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days” (Daniel 6:10). [Emphasis supplied.]

SHADRACH, MESHACH and ABEDNEGO

“Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego.

“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself” (Daniel 1:6–8). [Emphasis supplied.]

After being threatened with death in the fiery furnace for refusing to worship the golden image, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up’ ” (Daniel 3:16–18). [Emphasis supplied.]

JOSEPH

“Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate.

“Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, ‘Lie with me.’ But he refused and said to his master’s wife, ‘Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?’ ” (Genesis 39:1–9). [Emphasis supplied.]

ABRAHAM

“Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’

“Then He said, ‘Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you’ ” (Genesis 22:1, 2).

Imagine Abraham’s agony and confusion. God doesn’t require child sacrifice. Isaac was the child of promise. How was Abraham to do this thing? Could you sacrifice your child, if God asked it, if you had not developed a lifelong faith in and habit of obedience to God?

“So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, ‘My father!’ And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ Then he said, ‘Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’ And Abraham said, ‘My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.’ So the two of them went together” (verses 6–8).

Notice, Isaac does not refuse. He understood what was being asked of Abraham and himself, and still he did not refuse; he did not run away which he easily could have done. He submitted with complete trust to His father.

‘Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

“But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ So he said, ‘Here I am.’ And He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me’ ” (verses 9–12). [Emphasis supplied.]

Why were all these men able to do the right thing? Do you think they woke up on that particular morning and said, “Today, I’m only going to do what’s right.” I think there are a lot of people who think doing right works just that way. Today I will be better. Today I’m not going to sin at all. What did Daniel do? He purposed in his heart.  What did Joseph say? I cannot do this thing. The three worthies said we will not bow down.  These are statements of commitment, the kind of commitment developed over a lifetime.

We’ve all heard that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. Phillippa Lally, a health psychology researcher at University College London, and her team did a study on just how long it takes to form a habit and published her findings in the European Journal of Social Psychology. The study included 96 subjects studied over a 12-week period. Each subject chose the habit they wanted to develop and “reported daily on whether or not they did the behavior and how automatic the behavior felt.” In short, this is what they found:

  1. It’s supposed to take time to form a new habit.
  2. Making mistakes is okay, but develop a strategy to get back on track quickly.
  3. It’s a process, not an event.

(taken from How Long Does it Actually Take to Form a New Habit? (Backed by Science) written by James Clear)

Spiritually, the first and third findings can be combined and applied to the habit (addiction) of sinning. Living like that cannot be changed or broken except by choosing to allow the Holy Spirit to transform the life. We can ask as did David, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). While the original creation, in which God had perfect material to work with took only a few days, after 6,000 years of sin, change is just going to take time. And then there is that second finding, the one that says we’ll make mistakes. We are, after all, sinners by nature ever able to choose to sin, no matter how truly committed we are not to.

David is referred to in the Bible as “a man after God’s own heart,” and yet David, when he saw Bathsheba bathing on her roof, rather than turning away and seeking God’s deliverance from the temptations that were assailing him, he lingered (see James 1:14, 15). He began a not-so-secret relationship with Bathsheba. She became pregnant and in an effort to hide what he had done, he had her husband Uriah killed. Even worse, David’s sin with Bathsheba came nigh to spiritually destroying the children of Israel. He made a mistake, but didn’t utilize that strategy to get back on track mentioned in the second of the study findings.

Peter walked and talked with Jesus for three and a half years during His earthly ministry. Peter committed himself to be ever faithful to Jesus. He refused to believe that he would ever deny Christ and yet, he did three times, just as Jesus said he would (Matthew 26:33). The problem for Peter, and I’d say David and us as well, is that he didn’t know himself as well as he thought he did; so sure of himself that he didn’t know what he really lacked. As the sound of the final denial disappeared into the night, it was then that Peter recognized what he was: a sinner in need of a Saviour. “Peter denied his Lord in the hour of trial, but Jesus did not forsake His poor disciple. Although Peter hated himself, the Lord loved him, and after His resurrection He called him by name and sent him a loving message. Oh, what a kind, loving, compassionate Saviour we have! And He loves us though we err.” That I May Know Him, 285.

Yes, the idea that forming habits takes time and is a process, not an event, reminds us that the development of a Christian character is described in the Spirit of Prophecy as “the work of a lifetime.” My Life Today, 267. The Bible calls this process sanctification – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Sanctification is accomplished by our willingness to be transformed and then through the power of the Holy Spirit being transformed day by day.

Sometimes, even when we have fully made the commitment for the Holy Spirit to work this process of sanctification in our lives, we may still make mistakes. But by recognizing what we are and what the remedy is, we know that we can confess those mistakes, repent and be forgiven.

However, we should be keenly aware of how important sanctification and character building are. Ellen White says, “A character formed according to the divine likeness is the only treasure that we can take from this world to the next. Those who are under the instruction of Christ in this world will take every divine attainment with them to the heavenly mansions. And in heaven we are continually to improve. How important, then, is the development of character in this life.” Child Guidance, 161.

“It is your work to advance toward perfection, making constant improvement, until at last you are pronounced worthy to receive immortal life. And even then the work of progression will not cease, but will continue throughout eternity.” In Heavenly Places, 186.

I’m working hard every day to develop the habit of clocking in, but am I working as hard to commit my life to the formation of a perfected character by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit?

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. …

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. …

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me” (Psalm 51:1, 2, 7, 10, 11).

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Judy Rebarchek is a member of the LandMarks team. She can be contacted at: judyrebarchek@stepstolife.org.

Habits are Forever

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Have you ever wondered what makes a person who he is? When Jesus comes, our bodies will be changed when the mortal body, that we now have, puts on immortality. (See 1 Corinthians 13 and 15.) But we will still be the same people, even though our appearances will have changed. Do you know why? It is because what makes us who we are is our character, and this character is formed by our habits.

When Jesus comes, I am sure that we will not recognize some people. Imagine someone who was very old, and who was deformed because of an accident. When you meet them, all the scars will be gone and they will appear young and healthier than they ever were during their life on this earth. You probably would not recognize them by their appearance, but you will know them because they will have the same habits and personality as they had when you knew them in this world.

Job knew that he would be the same person when He met His God. While he lay suffering from boils all over his body, he looked forward to the great day when he would meet his Maker. He said about this, “Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me.” Job 19:27. Job’s body was so sick and wounded that he may not have been recognizable to his friends, but when Jesus comes, he will not have any boils, he will have a completely new, healthy body. Yet, he will still be the same person. He will have the same thoughts, the same emotions and the same habits that he had in this life.

“We shall be individually, for time and eternity, what our habits make us.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 452. Now that can be a very wonderful thought if our habits are good, or it can be a rather discouraging thought if our habits are not good. Thank the Lord that our habits can change, because every one of us has some habits that we would like to change. However, changing our habits is not an easy thing to do. Jeremiah wrote, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.” Jeremiah 13:23. Day by day, as we form habits, they become more and more firmly established and some day,when we are sealed, they will never be able to be changed. Either we will be sealed with good habits or we will be sealed with bad habits.

However, there is no need to become disheartened. The Lord can help us do what looks impossible to us, and would be impossible for us if we had only our own strength. Later, in this article, we will study how the Lord can help us do the seemingly impossible, but first I would like to look at one other aspect of habits that we need to study carefully.

What We Might Have Become

Did you know that there are not only bad habits, which will keep us out of Heaven if they are not overcome, but also good habits which we need to cultivate. But there are some habits that may not be such that they would keep us out of heaven, but they could greatly affect us throughout eternity. For years, I struggled with what it means when it describes these habits in Christ’s Object Lessons, 363. Consider it with me carefully, and we will see if we can better understand it. “For all that we might become through the right use of our talents God holds us responsible. We shall be judged according to what we ought to have done, but did not accomplish because we did not use our powers to glorify God. Even if we do not lose our souls, we shall realize in eternity the result of our unused talents. For all the knowledge and ability that we might have gained and did not, there will be an eternal loss.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 363.

I read and re-read that passage, and wondered, How could that be? How could it be through the billions and billions of years of eternity that there would be an eternal loss because I did not develop some talent here on earth? If I do not learn to play the piano well here, I will have a million years to practice up there. What difference does it make? If I do not learn to speak correctly here, I will have a million years to learn there. All that really matters is that I make it there. Right?” And yet, this statement startled me. I thought, “What in the world does this mean? Could I get to heaven and yet not have all that I could have and have to endure some eternal loss?”

I also pondered over what Paul says about this in 1 Corinthians 3:11–15: “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, hay, wood or straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work, which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet as through fire.”

Paul is here talking about people who will be saved in heaven, but they will be saved with a loss. Jesus taught in the parable of the talents that the one who had the most talents was given another one. Could it be that those who develop their talents in this life will receive more talents in heaven? That seems to be indicated in Mathew 10 and Matthew 25. But it goes even beyond that. We take our characters with us to heaven. Those characters that are firmly established on earth will be the characters that will last throughout eternity.

Why is it that those who do poorly in grade school continue to do poorly in high school and college? Is it simply because they do not have the knowledge to make it? No, it is because the habits they developed in grade school go on with them to high school and the habits they had in high school go on with them to college.

Young people go to college and think, “I have not done well in the past, but now I will turn over a new leaf.” I tried to do this, and it was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I had to seek the Lord’s help, and I thank Him that He brought me through.

Some young people come to college with such poor habits that they flunk. (That is like those who will not make it to heaven at all.) Others have not developed the best habits, but at least they make it through college by plodding along. And although they never really develop their abilities to the utmost, they at least still graduate. And yet, throughout their lives, they carry a loss because they did not learn all that they could have.

There is one more group of college students. These are the ones who have learned to utilize their time, learned to concentrate, developed their memory and learned how to listen during their early school years, and they carry these skills into their college-years. They are blessed throughout life. This is the way it will be in heaven. Some will not make it at all because they have developed such bad habits. But others, who have not developed specific bad habits, but have not developed all the talents God has given them, when they get to heaven they will carry the loss throughout eternity.

Habits Seldom Changed

When is the easiest time for habits to be developed? Sister White counseled parents in Child Guidance: “What the child sees and hears is drawing deep lines upon the tender mind, which no after circumstance in life can entirely efface. The intellect is now taking shape, and the affections receiving direction and strength. Repeated acts in a given course become habits. These may be modified by severe training, in after life, but they are seldom changed.” Child Guidance, 199–200.

You know by your own experience that this is true. Very few people ever change the habits they develop in their youth. These habits are retained throughout life, usually with little modification. However, God’s prophet did not leave us without hope. Although these bad habits are “seldom changed,” it is not impossible to change them if we allow God’s spirit to work in our hearts.

Yet it is true that the older one gets, the harder it is to change. But we cannot let this be an excuse. Hard or not, now is the time to make the needed changes. If a person is fifty years old they may say, “I am too old to change now. If I were fifteen years old, I could have done it. But I guess I will just have to wait until I get to heaven to change my habits.” That will not happen!

If it is hard to change after fifty years, how hard do you think it will be to change after five hundred or five thousand years? Now is the time to change our characters. Someone says, “Oh, heaven is not like that. Whatever we have been like here, if we simply make it, somehow we will immediately be little saints when we get to heaven.”

Lucifer found a way to become discontented, rebellious and jealous. It all happened in heaven, which shows that it can go on there. That is why God has to make sure that our characters are developed here so that we will be safe to be saved in heaven. Our characters will not be changed after we arrive in heaven. The personality that we have here is the personality that we will have there. Job said, “When God comes, I will see Him for myself. It will be me, not someone else.” It will be our characters that we take to heaven—if we get there, by God’s grace.

Character Fit for Heaven

The following are several quotations from the pen of inspiration on this subject. Here we can see exactly what God’s expectations are for us. “We are here to form perfect characters for heaven.” Review and Herald, July 13. 1886.

“An important work is before us. We are to obtain a moral fitness for heaven.” Review and Herald, July 6, 1886. That is what this life is all about. Just like college is to prepare us intellectually to carry on a business or a profession, so this life is the fitting up place for heaven.

“Those who would be saints in heaven, must first be saints upon the earth; for when we leave this earth, we shall take our characters with us.” Review and Herald, August 19, 1890. Whatever you want to be like in heaven, that is what you must be like here.

Heaven will be a happy place for everyone that gets there, because no one will get there that has not learned to be happy. In Signs of the Times, November 14, 1892, we read: “Let no unkind words fall from the lips of those who compose the home circle. Make the atmosphere fragrant with tender thoughtfulness of others. Only those will enter heaven who in probationary time have formed a character that breathed a heavenly influence. The saint in heaven must first be a saint upon the earth. The habits of speech, the character of our actions, put a mold upon us; and that which we cultivate in our association with others in this life, goes down into the grave with us, and will be unchanged when we shall come up from the grave. Many are deceiving themselves by thinking that the character will be transformed at the coming of Christ; but there will be no conversion of heart at His appearing. Our defects of character must here be repented of, and through the grace of Christ we must overcome them while probation shall last. This is the place for fitting up for the family above.”

“How long a time are you designing to take to prepare to be introduced into the society of heavenly angels in glory. In the state which you and your family are in at present, all heaven would be marred should you be introduced therein. The work for you must be done here. This earth is the fitting up place. You have not one moment to lose. All is harmony, peace, and love in heaven. No discord, no strife, no censoring, no unloving words, no clouded brows, no jars there; and no one will be introduced there who possesses any of these elements so destructive to peace and happiness. Study to be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up for yourselves a good foundation against the time to come that you may lay hold on everlasting life.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 705–706.

“What can be done for you? Do you design to wait until Jesus comes in the clouds of heaven Will He make you all over new when He comes? Oh, no, this will not be done then. The fitting up must be done here. All the hewing and squaring must take place here upon earth in the hours of probation. You must be fitted up here; the last blow must be given here.” Ellen White, The Progressive Years, 95.

The longer one waits to begin the overcoming process, the more difficult it becomes. But thank the Lord that no one is so old and so entrenched in habits that God cannot change him or her if they really want to change. God has promised extra grace—grace sufficient for every need.

This extra measure of grace is given to us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the angels, and their help is available in this life only. We have not been promised these extra gifts in heaven, for it is here in this life that the grace is needed. Without this added grace, we are in the situation that Paul described in Romans 7: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do.” Romans 7:18, 19.

Paul realized that without help, he could do nothing at all about his evil tendencies. So what did he do? Did he just sit back and say, “Well, God, you will just have to accept me as I am because I cannot change. I know that you will take care of perfecting my character when I get to heaven.” No, he cried, “Oh wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7: 24, 25. He realized that alone he could do nothing, and that he could not take his sinful character to heaven. So, he looked to Christ as his hope.

Overcoming With the Spirit

Paul explained more about this hope in Romans 8: “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:3, 4.

Paul had some habits of the flesh that he wanted to overcome, but could not in his own strength. Have you ever been convicted about something that needed to be changed in your life, but you have tried and found you cannot change? That is where Paul was. Some have been convicted about smoking. They have tried and tried and they just cannot break it. They are slaves to this wicked habit. Other people are impatient. They do not want to be nor do they mean to be patient. But they try hard and they are still impatient. It is seemingly impossible to overcome the habit. Some are afflicted with habits of laziness. They do not have enough get-up-and-go to even read their Bibles or the Spirit of Prophecy. There are still others who have developed habits of lust over years and years. They are constantly thinking thoughts of lust and they cannot break free from them. And the list of evil habits that we have goes on and on: gluttony, fretfulness, worrying, daydreaming, envying, etc.

We want to overcome but we cannot, just as it was with Paul. What is our only hope? Paul tells us: “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Romans 8:13.

There has to be a new birth in each of our lives. There must be a crucifying of the old life and a resurrection to a new life. Jesus came down to make this possible. Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say unto you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3.

It takes the crucifixion, death and burial of the old life, and a resurrection to a new life of holiness. Is that possible? Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13. This is not just an empty phrase. It is a promise, and it is guaranteed by the infinite power of the God of the universe.

Replacing the Old with the New

We must put off our acquired habits that do not reflect the sunshine of obedience and the trust of heaven. Yet we must not just give up our bad habits; we must also develop good habits. The Christian life is not just a matter of “Don’t do this or don’t do that.” It also involves developing what is good.

It is not good enough to simply overcome fretfulness. We must then go on to cultivate cheerfulness. It is not good enough to just overcome lust. We must then learn to develop the true, holy and sanctified love that God wants each one of us to have. It is not good enough to just overcome worrying; we must develop a faith that will carry us through every trial and every perplexity. It is not good enough to just overcome grumbling. We must develop an attitude of praise and thanksgiving that, as Paul said, is thankful in every situation.

The parable in Luke 11:24–26 is about a man who had an unclean spirit. (That means he had bad habits that he could not overcome. And these were such bad habits that the devil actually took over his life in some of these areas.) The Lord came and cast out the demon and set this man free. The demon then went out from this man, it says in verse 24, and went “through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none.” So then this demon said, “I will return to my house from which I came. And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man was worse than the first. “You cannot have an empty life forever. Sooner or later that vacuum will be filled with something. If it is not filled with what is good, it will be filled with what is evil. Today is the only day that God has given us to develop habits that will make us the kind of people that will be happy in heaven throughout eternity.

When Jesus comes there will be two classes of people: those who have changed and those who have remained the same. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Again recall the statement that we looked at in the beginning, from Testimonies, vol. 4, 452. “We shall be individually for time and for eternity what our habits make us.” Stop and think about the habits that you have formed throughout your life. What habits do you have that must be overcome, that will keep you from entering heaven? What talents have you neglected developing? Do you want to suffer an eternal loss because you did not gain all the knowledge or ability you might have?

Let us fix our minds on the goal to be won, and press toward the mark. Now is the probationary time that we have been allotted. Do not despair, my dear friend, our Savior and all the host of heaven are near to help you in this work. No one is too weak or too sinful to be saved if they will fully surrender themselves to God. This is my prayer for each of you.

A Character of Habits

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Have you ever wondered what makes a person who he is? When Jesus comes, our bodies will be changed when the mortal body that we now have puts on immortality. (See 1 Corinthians 13 and 15.) But we will still be the same people, even though our appearances will have changed. Do you know why? It is because what makes us who we are is our character, and this character is formed by our habits.

When Jesus comes, I am sure that we will not recognize some people. Imagine someone who was very old and perhaps deformed because of an accident. When you meet them, all the scars will be gone, and they will appear young and healthier than they ever were during their life on this earth. You probably will not recognize them by their appearance, but you will know them, because they will have the same habits and personalities as they had when you knew them in this world.

Job knew that he would be the same person when he met His God. While he lay suffering from boils all over his body, he looked forward to the great day when he would meet his Maker. He said about this, “Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. [How] my heart yearns within me!” Job 19:27. Job’s body was so sick and wounded that he may not have been recognizable to his friends, but when Jesus comes, he will not have any boils; he will have a completely new, healthy body. Yet, he will still be the same person. He will have the same thoughts, the same emotions and the same habits that he had in this life.

“We shall be individually, for time and eternity, what our habits make us.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 452. Now, that can be a very wonderful thought if our habits are good, or it can be a rather discouraging thought if our habits are not good. Thank the Lord that our habits can change, because every one of us has some habits that we would like to change. However, changing our habits is not an easy thing to do. Jeremiah wrote, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? [Then] may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.” Jeremiah 13:23. Day by day, as we form habits, they become more and more firmly established, and someday, when we are sealed, they will never be able to be changed either we will be sealed with good habits, or we will be sealed with bad habits.

However, there is no need to become disheartened. The Lord can help us do what looks impossible to us, and would be impossible for us if we had only our own strength. Later in this article we will study how the Lord can help us do the seemingly impossible, but first I would like to look at one other aspect of habits that we need to study carefully.

Eternal Loss

Did you know that there are not only bad habits, which will keep us out of Heaven if they are not overcome, but also good habits which we need to cultivate? There are some habits that may not be such that they would keep us out of heaven, but they could greatly affect us throughout eternity. For years, I struggled with what it means when Ellen White describes these habits. Consider it with me carefully, and we will see if we can better understand it:

“For all that we might become through the right use of our talents God holds us responsible. We shall be judged according to what we ought to have done, but did not accomplish because we did not use our powers to glorify God. Even if we do not lose our souls, we shall realize in eternity the result of our unused talents. For all the knowledge and ability that we might have gained and did not, there will be an eternal loss.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 363.

I have read and re-read that passage and wondered, How could that be? How could it be through the billions and billions of years of eternity that there would be an eternal loss because I did not develop some talent here on earth? If I do not learn to play the piano well here, I will have a million years to practice up there. What difference does it make? If I do not learn to speak correctly here, I will have a million years to learn there. All that really matters is that I make it there, right? And yet, this statement startled me. I thought, “What in the world does this mean? Could I get to heaven, and yet not have all that I could have had, and have to endure some eternal loss?”

I also pondered over what Paul says about this in 1 Corinthians 3:11–15: “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation [with] gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on [it] endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

Paul is here talking about people who will be saved in heaven, but they will be saved with a loss. Jesus taught in the parable of the talents that the one who had the most talents was given another one. Could it be that those who develop their talents in this life will receive more talents in heaven? That seems to be indicated in Mathew 10 and Matthew 25, but it goes even beyond that. We take our characters with us to heaven. Those characters that are firmly established on earth will be the characters that will last throughout eternity.

Habits Develop Early

Why is it that those who do poorly in grade school continue to do poorly in high school and college? Is it simply because they do not have the knowledge to make it? No, it is because the habits they developed in grade school go on with them to high school, and the habits they had in high school go on with them to college.

Young people go to college and think, “I have not done well in the past, but now I will turn over a new leaf.” I tried to do this, and it was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I had to seek the Lord’s help, and I thank Him that He brought me through.

Some young people start college with such poor habits that they flunk. (That is like those who will not make it to heaven at all.) Others have not developed the best habits, but at least they make it through college by plodding along. Although they never really develop their abilities to the utmost, they at least still graduate. And yet, throughout their lives, they carry a loss, because they did not learn all that they could have.

There is one more group of college students. These are the ones who have learned to utilize their time, learned to concentrate, developed their memories, and learned how to listen during their early school years, and they carry these skills into their college years. They are blessed throughout life.

This is the way it will be in heaven. Some will not make it at all, because they have developed such bad habits. Others who have not developed specific bad habits, but have not developed all the talents God has given them, when they get to heaven, will carry the loss throughout eternity.

Habits Seldom Changed

When is the easiest time for habits to be developed? Ellen White counseled parents:

“What the child sees and hears is drawing deep lines upon the tender mind, which no after circumstance in life can entirely efface. The intellect is now taking shape, and the affections receiving direction and strength. Repeated acts in a given course become habits. These may be modified by severe training, in after life, but they are seldom changed.” Child Guidance, 199, 200.

You know by your own experience that this is true. Very few people ever change the habits they develop in their youth. These habits are retained throughout life, usually with little modification. However, God’s prophet did not leave us without hope. Although these bad habits are “seldom changed,” it is not impossible to change them if we allow God’s Spirit to work in our hearts.

It is true, however, that the older one gets, the harder it is to change, but we cannot let this be an excuse. Hard or not, now is the time to make the needed changes. If a person is 50 years old, he or she may say, “I am too old to change now. If I were 15 years old, I could have done it, but I guess I will just have to wait until I get to heaven to change my habits.” That will not happen!

If it is hard to change after 50 years, how hard do you think it will be to change after 500 or 5,000 years? Now is the time to change our characters. Someone says, “Oh, heaven is not like that. Whatever we have been like here, if we simply make it, somehow we will immediately be little saints when we get to heaven.”

Lucifer found a way to become discontented, rebellious, and jealous. It all happened in heaven, which shows that it can go on there. That is why God has to make sure that our characters are developed here, so we will be safe to be saved in heaven. Our characters will not be changed after we arrive in heaven. The personality that we have here is the personality that we will have there. Job said, “When God comes, I will see Him for myself. It will be me, not someone else.” It will be our characters that we take to heaven—if we get there, by God’s grace.

Fitting Up Place

The following are several quotations from the pen of inspiration on this subject. Here we can see exactly what God’s expectations are for us.

“We are here to form perfect characters for heaven.” Review and Herald, July 13, 1886.

“An important work is before us. We are to obtain a moral fitness for heaven.” Ibid., July 6, 1886. That is what this life is all about. Just like college is to prepare us intellectually to carry on a business or a profession, so this life is the fitting up place for heaven.

“Those who would be saints in heaven, must first be saints upon the earth; for when we leave this earth, we shall take our characters with us.” Ibid., August 19, 1890. Whatever you want to be like in heaven, that is what you must be like here.

Heaven will be a happy place for everyone who gets there, because no one will get there who has not learned to be happy. In The Signs of the Times, November 14, 1892, we read: “Let no unkind words fall from the lips of those who compose the home circle. Make the atmosphere fragrant with tender thoughtfulness of others. Only those will enter heaven who in probationary time have formed a character that breathed a heavenly influence. The saint in heaven must first be a saint upon the earth. The habits of speech, the character of our actions, put a mold upon us; and that which we cultivate in our association with others in this life, goes down into the grave with us, and will be unchanged when we shall come up from the grave. Many are deceiving themselves by thinking that the character will be transformed at the coming of Christ; but there will be no conversion of heart at His appearing. Our defects of character must here be repented of, and through the grace of Christ we must overcome them while probation shall last. This is the place for fitting up for the family above.”

“How long a time are you designing to take to prepare to be introduced into the society of heavenly angels in glory? In the state which you and your family are in at present, all heaven would be marred should you be introduced therein. The work for you must be done here. This earth is the fitting-up place. You have not one moment to lose. All is harmony, peace, and love in heaven. No discord, no strife, no censuring, no unloving words, no clouded brows, no jars there; and no one will be introduced there who possesses any of these elements so destructive to peace and happiness. Study to be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up for yourselves a good foundation against the time to come, that you may lay hold on everlasting life.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 705, 706.

“What can be done for you? Do you design to wait until Jesus comes in the clouds of heaven? Will He make you all over new when He comes? Oh, no, this will not be done then. The fitting up must be done here. All the hewing and squaring must take place here upon earth in the hours of probation. You must be fitted up here; the last blow must be given here.” Arthur L. White, Ellen G. White, vol. 2, The Progressive Years 1862-1876, Review and Herald Publishing Association, Washington, D.C., 95.

Grace Sufficient

The longer one waits to begin the overcoming process, the more difficult it becomes, but thank the Lord that no one is so old and so entrenched in habits that God cannot change him or her if they really want to change. God has promised extra grace—grace sufficient for every need.

This extra measure of grace is given to us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the angels, and their help is available in this life only. We have not been promised these extra gifts in heaven, for it is here in this life that the grace is needed. Without this added grace, we are in the situation that Paul described in Romans: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but [how] to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do.” Romans 7:18, 19.

Paul realized that without help he could do nothing at all about his evil tendencies, so what did he do? Did he just sit back and say, “Well, God, you will just have to accept me as I am, because I cannot change; I know that You will take care of perfecting my character when I get to heaven”? No! He cried, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Verses 24, 25. He realized that alone he could do nothing, and that he could not take his sinful character to heaven, so he looked to Christ as his hope.

Overcoming With the Spirit

Paul explained more about this hope in Romans 8: “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God [did] by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:3, 4.

Paul had some habits of the flesh that he wanted to overcome, but could not in his own strength. Have you ever been convicted about something that needed to be changed in your life, but you have tried and found you cannot change? That is where Paul was. Some have been convicted about smoking. They have tried and tried, and they just cannot break the addiction. They are slaves to this wicked habit. Other people are impatient. They do not want to be, nor do they mean to be impatient, but they try hard, and they are still impatient. It is seemingly impossible to overcome the habit. Some are afflicted with habits of laziness. They do not have enough get-up-and-go to even read their Bibles or the Spirit of Prophecy. There are still others who have developed habits of lust over years and years. They are constantly thinking thoughts of lust, and they cannot break free from them. The list of evil habits that we have goes on and on: gluttony, fretfulness, worrying, daydreaming, envying, and more.

We want to overcome, but we cannot, just as it was with Paul. What is our only hope? Paul tells us: “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Romans 8:13. [Emphasis added.]

There has to be a new birth in each of our lives. There must be a crucifying of the old life and a resurrection to a new life. Jesus came down to make this possible. He said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3.

It takes the crucifixion, death, and burial of the old life, and a resurrection to a new life of holiness. Is that possible? Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13. This is not just an empty phrase. It is a promise, and it is guaranteed by the infinite power of the God of the universe.

Replacing the Old with the New

We must put off our acquired habits that do not reflect the sunshine of obedience and the trust of heaven. Yet we must not just give up our bad habits; we must also develop good habits. The Christian life is not just a matter of “do not do this” or “do not do that.” It also involves developing what is good.

It is not good enough to simply overcome fretfulness. We must then go on to cultivate cheerfulness. It is not good enough to just overcome lust. We must then learn to develop the true, holy, and sanctified love that God wants each one of us to have. It is not good enough to just overcome worrying. We must develop a faith that will carry us through every trial and every perplexity. It is not good enough to just overcome grumbling. We must develop an attitude of praise and thanksgiving that, as Paul said, is thankful in every situation.

The parable in Luke 11:24–26 is about a man who had an unclean spirit. That means he had bad habits that he could not overcome, and these were such bad habits that the devil actually took over his life in some of these areas. The Lord came and cast out the demon and set this man free. The demon then went out from this man, we are told in verse 24, and went “through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none.” So then this demon said, “ ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with [him] seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last [state] of that man was worse than the first.” You cannot have an empty life forever. Sooner or later that vacuum will be filled with something. If it is not filled with what is good, it will be filled with what is evil. Today is the only day that God has given us to develop habits that will make us the kind of people who will be happy in heaven throughout eternity.

Stop and Think

When Jesus comes, there will be two classes of people: those who have changed and those who have remained the same. “Therefore, if anyone [is] in Christ, [he is] a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 11 Corinthians 5:17.

Again recall the statement that we looked at in the beginning, from Testimonies, vol. 4, 452. “We shall be individually for time and for eternity what our habits make us.” Stop and think about the habits that you have formed throughout your life. What habits do you have that must be overcome, that will keep you from entering heaven? What talents have you neglected developing? Do you want to suffer an eternal loss because you did not gain all the knowledge or ability you might have?

Let us fix our minds on the goal to be won, and press toward the mark. Now is the probationary time that we have been allotted. Do not despair, my dear friends, our Savior and all the host of heaven are near to help you in this work. No one is too weak or too sinful to be saved, if they will fully surrender themselves to God. This is my prayer for each of you.

Pastor Marshall Grosboll, with his wife Lillian, founded Steps to Life. In July 1991, Pastor Marshall and his family met with tragedy as they were returning home from a camp meeting in Washington state, when the airplane he was piloting went down, killing all on board.

Food – Temperance in Our Life

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A good definition of temperance is, “True temperance teaches us to dispense entirely with everything hurtful and to use judiciously that which is healthful.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 562. In this definition we find a direct contradiction to the philosophy of the world which says, If it feels good do it, if it tastes good eat it, and if you want it, get it. Unfortunately, this philosophy has led the world into sin and rebellion, ruining lives all around us. This philosophy becomes a way of life and habits of sin become so ingrained into who we are that at times we do not see any way to break them.

The first step in changing an intemperate habit, whether it be overeating, smoking, alcohol, drugs, sexual sins, or any other host of sinful habits, is to come to God just as you are, admitting that you are helpless to change in your own power. Only God can change the sinful heart. “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” Jeremiah 13:23. Although God can miraculously take away a bad habit, He prefers to give us the victory in His time.

The next step is to make a firm decision to change with the help of God. This involves a decision of the will and acting on that decision to starve the habit by avoiding situations that feed it. If the habit is one of tobacco usage, for example, starve the habit by eliminating all cigarettes from your home, car, purse, etc., and resist buying another cigarette. Then avoid, as much as possible, situations in which there would be a strong temptation to smoke. This will starve the bad habit.

Then, begin to develop new and better habits. When the urge to smoke hits, have a backup plan to resist the temptation. Send a quick prayer to the Lord for power to resist the devil and then go for a brisk walk. This will soon develop into a new habit. When this is done repeatedly changes are actually made in the brain. Activities are facilitated by chemicals moving between the nerve endings in the brain, and when an activity is repeated over and over, small grooves are formed between the nerve endings, thus creating a pathway for the chemicals. The more these activities are repeated, the easier it is for the chemicals and electrical activity to move within these grooves and a habit is formed in the brain. As old habits are resisted and new ones are developed, they become second nature. In this way we can actually cooperate with the Lord by developing new habits through repetition of good activities.

In I Corinthians 9:25 it says, “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.”

Examine the areas in your life that need change and ask for God’s help to change those bad habits and live a temperate life.

 

Habits are Forever

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Have you ever wondered what makes a person who he is? When Jesus comes, our bodies will be changed when the mortal body that we now occupy puts on immortality (I Corinthians 13 and 15). Even though our physical appearance will have changed, we will still be the same person. What makes us who we are is our character, and this character is formed by our habits.

When Jesus comes, I am sure that we will not recognize some people. Imagine someone who was very old, and who was deformed because of an accident. When you meet them, all the scars will be gone and they will appear young and healthier than they ever were during their life on this earth. You probably would not recognize them by their appearance, but you will know them because they will have the same habits and personality as they had when you knew them in this world.

Job knew that he would be the same person when He met His God. While he laid suffering from the boils that encompassed his body, he looked forward to the great day when he would meet his Maker. He said about this, “Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” Job 19:27. Job’s body was so sick and wounded that he may not have been recognizable to his friends, but when Jesus comes, he will not have any boils; he will have a completely new, healthy body. Yet, he will still be the same person with the same thoughts, the same emotions and the same habits that he had developed in this life.

“We shall be individually, for time and eternity, what our habits make us.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 452. Now that can be a very wonderful thought if our habits are good, or it can be a rather discouraging thought if our habits are not good. Thank the Lord that in His power our habits can change, because every one of us have developed some that are undesirable that we would like to change. However, changing our habits is not an easy thing to do. Jeremiah wrote, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.” Jeremiah 13:23. Day by day, as we form habits, they become more and more firmly established and someday, when we are sealed, they will never be able to be changed. Either we will be sealed with good habits or we will be sealed with bad habits.

However, there is no need to become disheartened. The Lord can help us do what looks impossible to us, and would be impossible in our own strength. Later, in this article, we will study how the Lord can help us do the seemingly impossible, but first I would like to look at one other aspect of habits that we need to study carefully.

What We Might Have Become

Did you know that there are not only bad habits, which will keep us out of Heaven if they are not overcome, but also good habits which we need to cultivate? There are some habits that may not be such that they would keep us out of heaven, but they could greatly affect us throughout eternity. For years, I struggled with what it means when it describes these habits in Christ’s Object Lessons, 363. Consider it with me carefully, and we will see if we can better understand it. “For all that we might become through the right use of our talents God holds us responsible. We shall be judged according to what we ought to have done, but did not accomplish because we did not use our powers to glorify God. Even if we do not lose our souls, we shall realize in eternity the result of our unused talents. For all the knowledge and ability that we might have gained and did not, there will be an eternal loss.”

I read and re-read that passage, and wondered, how could that be? How could it be through the billions and billions of years of eternity that there would be an eternal loss because I did not develop some talent here on earth? If I do not learn to play the piano well here, I will have a million years to practice up there. What difference does it make? If I do not learn to speak correctly here, I will have a million years to learn there. All that really matters is that I make it there, right? And yet, this statement startled me. I thought, What in the world does this mean? Could I get to heaven and yet not have all that I could have and have to endure some eternal loss?

I also pondered over what Paul says about this in I Corinthians 3:11–15: “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become manifest [clear]; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it, endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

Paul here is talking about people who will be saved in heaven, but they will be saved with a loss. Jesus taught in the parable of the talents that the one who had the most talents was given another one. Could it be that those who develop their talents in this life will receive more talents in heaven? That seems to be indicated in Matthew 10 and Matthew 25. But it goes even beyond that. We take our characters with us to heaven. Those characters that are firmly established on earth will be the characters that will last throughout eternity.

Why is it that those who do poorly in grade school continue to do poorly in high school and college? Is it simply because they do not have the knowledge to make it? No, it is because the habits they developed in grade school go on with them to high school and the habits they had in high school go on with them to college.

Young people go to college and think, “I have not done well in the past, but now I will turn over a new leaf.” I tried to do this, and it was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I had to seek the Lord’s help, and I thank Him that He brought me through.

Some young people enter college with such poor habits that they flunk. (That is like those who will not make it to heaven at all.) Others have not developed the best habits, but at least they make it through college by plodding along. Although they never really develop their abilities to the utmost, at least they still graduate. And yet, throughout their lives, they carry a loss because they did not learn all that they could have.

There is one more group of college students. These are the ones who have learned to utilize their time, learned to concentrate, developed their memory and learned how to listen during their early school years, and they carry these skills into their college years. They are blessed throughout life. This is the way it will be in heaven. Some will not make it at all because they have developed such bad habits. But others, who have not developed specific bad habits, but have not developed all the talents God has given them, when they get to heaven they will carry the loss throughout eternity.

Habits Seldom Changed

When is the easiest time for habits to be developed? Sister White counseled parents in Child Guidance: “What the child sees and hears is drawing deep lines upon the tender mind, which no after circumstance in life can entirely efface. The intellect is now taking shape, and the affections receiving direction and strength. Repeated acts in a given course become habits. These may be modified by severe training, in afterlife, but they are seldom changed.” Child Guidance, 199, 200.

You know by your own experience that this is true. Very few people ever change the habits they develop in their youth. These habits are retained throughout life, usually with little modification. However, God’s prophet did not leave us without hope. Although these bad habits are “seldom changed,” it is not impossible to change them if we allow God’s spirit to work in our hearts.

Yet it is true that the older one gets, the harder it is to change. But we cannot let this be an excuse. Hard or not, now is the time to make the needed changes. If a person is fifty years old they may say, “I am too old to change now. If I were fifteen years old, I could have done it. But I guess I will just have to wait until I get to heaven to change my habits.” That will not happen!

If it is hard to change after fifty years, how hard do you think it will be to change after five hundred or five thousand years? Now is the time to make the necessary changes to our characters. Someone says, “Oh, heaven is not like that. Whatever we have been like here, if we simply make it, somehow we will immediately be little saints when we get to heaven.”

Lucifer found a way to become discontented, rebellious and jealous. It all happened in heaven, which shows that it can go on there. That is why God has to make sure that our characters are developed here so that we will be safe to be saved in heaven. Our characters will not be changed after we arrive in heaven. The personality that we have here is the personality that we will have there. Job said, “When God comes, I will see Him for myself. It will be me, not someone else.” It will be our characters that we take to heaven—if we get there, by God’s grace.

Character Fit for Heaven

The following are several quotations from the pen of inspiration on this subject. Here we can see exactly what God’s expectations are for us. “We are here to form perfect characters for heaven.” The Review and Herald, July 13, 1886.

“An important work is before us. We are to obtain a moral fitness for heaven.” Ibid., July 6, 1886. That is what this life is all about. Just like college is to prepare us intellectually to carry on a business or a profession, so this life is the fitting up place for heaven.

“Those who would be saints in heaven, must first be saints upon the earth; for when we leave this earth, we shall take our characters with us.” Ibid., August 19, 1890. Whatever you want to be like in heaven, that is what you must be like here.

Heaven will be a happy place for everyone who gets there, because no one will get there who has not learned to be happy. In The Signs of the Times, November 14, 1892, we read: “Let no unkind words fall from the lips of those who compose the home circle. Make the atmosphere fragrant with tender thoughtfulness of others. Only those will enter heaven who in probationary time have formed a character that breathes a heavenly influence. The saint in heaven must first be a saint upon the earth. The habits of speech, the character of our actions, put a mould upon us; and that which we cultivate in our association with others in this life, goes down into the grave with us, and will be unchanged when we shall come up from the grave. Many are deceiving themselves by thinking that the character will be transformed at the coming of Christ; but there will be no conversion of heart at his appearing. Our defects of character must here be repented of, and through the grace of Christ we must overcome them while probation shall last. This is the place for fitting up for the family above.”

“How long a time are you designing to take to prepare to be introduced into the society of heavenly angels in glory? In the state which you and your family are in at present, all heaven would be marred should you be introduced therein. The work for you must be done here. This earth is the fitting-up place. You have not one moment to lose. All is harmony, peace, and love in heaven. No discord, no strife, no censoring, no unloving words, no clouded brows, no jars there; and no one will be introduced there who possesses any of these elements so destructive to peace and happiness. Study to be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up for yourselves a good foundation against the time to come, that you may lay hold on everlasting life.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 705, 706.

“What can be done for you? Do you design to wait until Jesus comes in the clouds of heaven? Will He make you all over new when He comes? Oh, no, this will not be done then. The fitting up must be done here; all the hewing and squaring must take place here upon earth, in the hours of probation. You must be fitted up here; the last blow must be given here.” Ellen G. White, vol. 2, The Progressive Years, 1862–1876, 95. (By Arthur L. White). The longer one waits to begin the overcoming process, the more difficult it becomes. But thank the Lord that no one is so old and so entrenched in habits that God cannot change him or her if they really want to change. God has promised extra grace—grace sufficient for every need.

This extra measure of grace is given to us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the angels, and their help is available in this life only. We have not been promised these extra gifts in heaven, for it is here in this life that the grace is needed. Without this added grace, we are in the situation that Paul described in Romans 7:18, 19; “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do.”

Paul realized that without help, he could do nothing at all about his evil tendencies. So what did he do? Did he just sit back and say, “Well, God, You will just have to accept me as I am because I cannot change. I know that You will take care of perfecting my character when I get to heaven?” No, he cried, “Oh wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7:24, 25. He realized that alone he could do nothing, and that he could not take his sinful character to heaven. So, he looked to Christ as his hope.

Overcoming With the Spirit

Paul explained more about this hope in Romans 8:3, 4: “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

Paul had some habits of the flesh that he wanted to overcome but could not in his own strength. Have you ever been convicted about something that needed to be changed in your life, but you have tried and found you cannot change? That is where Paul was. Some have been convicted about smoking. They have tried and tried and they just cannot break it. They are slaves to this wicked habit. Other people are impatient. They do not want to be nor do they mean to be impatient. But though they try hard, they are still impatient. It is seemingly impossible to overcome the habit. Some are afflicted with habits of laziness. They do not have enough get-up-and-go to even read their Bibles or the Spirit of Prophecy. There are still others who have developed habits of lust over years and years and they are constantly thinking thoughts of lust and they cannot break free from them. The list of evil habits that we have developed goes on and on: gluttony, fretfulness, worrying, daydreaming, envying, etc.

Just like Paul we want to overcome, but we cannot. What is our only hope? Paul tells us: “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Romans 8:13. [Emphasis supplied.]

There has to be a new birth in each of our lives. The old life must be a crucified and be resurrected to a new life in Jesus who came down to make this possible. Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say unto you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3.

It takes the crucifixion, death and burial of the old life, and a resurrection to a new life of holiness. Is that possible? Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13. This is not just an empty phrase. It is a promise and it is guaranteed by the infinite power of the God of the universe.

Replacing the Old with the New

Our old, acquired habits that do not reflect the sunshine of obedience and the trust of heaven must be put off. Yet this, in itself, is not enough. We must also develop good habits. The Christian life is not just a matter of don’t do this or don’t do that; it also involves developing what is good.

It is not good enough to simply overcome fretfulness. We must then go on to cultivate cheerfulness. It is not good enough to just overcome lust. We must then learn to develop the true, holy and sanctified love that God wants each one of us to have. It is not good enough to just overcome worrying; we must develop a faith that will carry us through every trial and every perplexity. It is not good enough to just overcome grumbling. We must develop an attitude of praise and thanksgiving that, as Paul said, is thankful in every situation.

There is a parable in Luke 11:24–26 about a man who had an unclean spirit. That means he had bad habits that he could not overcome. These were such bad habits that the devil actually took over his life in some of these areas. The Lord came and cast out the demon and set this man free. The demon then went out from this man, it says in verse 24, and went “through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none.” So then this demon said, “I will return to my house from which I came. And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man was worse than the first.” It is impossible to have an empty life forever. Sooner or later that vacuum will be filled with something. If it is not filled with what is good, it will be filled with what is evil. Today is the only day that God has given us to develop habits that will make us the kind of people who will be happy in heaven throughout eternity.

When Jesus comes there will be two classes of people: those who have changed and those who have remained the same. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” II Corinthians 5:17.

Again recall the statement that we looked at in the beginning, from Testimonies, vol. 4, 452: “We shall be individually, for time and for eternity, what our habits make us.” Stop and think about the habits that you have formed throughout your life. What habits do you have that must be overcome, that will keep you from entering heaven? What talents have you neglected developing? Do you want to suffer an eternal loss because you did not gain all the knowledge or ability you might have?

Let us fix our minds on the goal to be won, and press toward the mark. Now is the probationary time that we have been allotted. Do not despair, my dear friend. Our Savior and all the host of heaven are near to help you in this work. No one is too weak or too sinful to be saved if they will fully surrender themselves to God. This is my prayer for each of you.

Pastor Marshall Grosboll, with his wife Lillian, founded Steps to Life. In July 1991, Pastor Marshall and his family met with tragedy as they were returning home from a camp meeting in Washington State, when the airplane he was piloting went down, killing all on board.