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Getting Rid of Bad Habits

"The secret to cleansing our spirit of whatever the impurity is not very complicated. It begins with prayer every morning and ends with prayer every night. This is the most important step I know in the cleansing process. It may simply be a prayer for strength to turn from bad habits—remembering that all prayers are not answered the next day. With this step in place, I have seen hundreds of miracles take place. Without it, there is continued frustration, unhappiness, ineffectiveness, and despair.

Secondly, an added refinement will come in the filtering process: An added measure of spiritual purity, if you please, can be found in a daily study of the scriptures—not long, perhaps, but every day. If I were an Aaronic Priesthood boy, I would start reading the scriptures tonight and never let a day pass without reading some in them. This was a commitment President Kimball made over seventy years ago when he was your age.

Third, feed refreshment to your spirit that comes when you do something good for another that he or she doesn’t expect. Keep it simple, but do it—daily. It may only be a cheery hello, a short visit to a homebound, a phone call, or a note. Maybe even picking up your dirty socks will thrill an unsuspecting mother or wife. According to the scripture, a disciple of the Savior is first a servant to others (see Matt. 20:27).

And finally, pick up a commandment you are still struggling with and give it an honest chance to bless your life."

Thanks Bishop Peterson! In the coming weeks, we'll cover other specific steps you can take to rid yourself of debilitating problems with: pornography, alchohol and drugs, anorexia or bulimia, immorality, swearing, cheating and lying, and harming yourself.

Real People Who Have Stopped Bad Habits
Following are some real-life experiences of people who have stopped their bad habits, and their advice to you (names have been changed):

Drinking/Drugs/Immorality
John began drinking as a young teen-ager, and became increasing involved in drugs as well. His friends all did it, and so did he. He also became intimate with women and was living a life far from what his Heavenly Father would want for him. At one point, John was thrown in jail for selling drugs. His parents were called and they came and got him out of jail. That night, he came down the stairs of his house and saw his Dad with his head in his hands, so upset and not knowing what to do. It had quite an impact on John and he turned his life around. He completely left behind drugs and alcohol and started a new, clean life. He went through the neccesary processes of repentance. All who knew him could not believe he was the same person--the change in him was dramatic. However, John said that urge for alchohol will never go away because of his choices in those years. It's always better to stay away from something that's not good for you, but if you do find yourself in a situation like John's, know that you CAN leave it behind you. Repentance is real, and it works.

Cheating/Lying
Shannon was an intelligent young lady, but no matter how smart she was, she often found herself cheating in class or lying to her parents--almost as if she was addicted to it. She says that she knew what she was doing was wrong, but she just didn't stop. Finally, one day she looked at herself (in one of those moments of self-realization), and decided she had no depth--that her whole life was based on just having fun and getting what she wanted. She determined to stop lying and cheating and she did so. It wasn't easy, but step by step she controlled her actions and words and came off conquerer. You can do it too! Coming soon, we'll give you some tips on how.

Anorexia/Bulemia
Julie was the kind of person everybody liked. She was sweet, kind to everyone and stayed very active in the Church. But she didn't like the way she looked--especially her weight. She began purging after meals and soon she couldn't stop. This went on for years and years, and she felt that she would never be able to stop, no matter what she did. Finally, she had an experience where she put her trust in the Savior, and she truly believed through Him and His atonement she could be healed from this problem. She put her faith to the test, and she was able to stop purging and never start again. Her advice: you can deal with something like Bulemia with the help of your Heavenly Father and the Savior. We second that. We'd advise you to go to your parents or Bishop and enlist their help. Most of all, enlist the help of the Lord.

Swearing
Mark grew up in a family where there was a fair amount of swearing, and he eventually picked up the bad habit. For several years, this continued, until Mark decided he wanted to change. First, he decided upon good words to use instead of the words he had been using. Second, he tried to sing songs in his head whenever he had the urge to swear. He's happy to report that the swearing stopped, and eventually, the words didn't even pop into his head anymore. It took a while, but it worked! He says it's also important to try to stay away from bad language, so it doesn't creep back into your vocabulary. Good luck--we know you can do it.