The Christian Habits Podcast

Do you ever find yourself annoyed with your husband because of something he did–or didn’t–do? In today’s episode of the Christian Habits Podcast, I’ll explain how to use option charts to improve your chances of having a happy Christian marriage. I first started using option charts 17 years ago when I was in a difficult stage of my marriage. God used them to help me see life and marriage from a biblical perspective and enjoy my husband. Here’s a sample of an option chart I did a couple of weeks ago after we finished putting Christmas lights on the outside of the house (listen to podcast for full explanation and disclaimer on second to last option!): After doing the option chart, I was perfectly happy again and we had a wonderful night together–but if I hadn’t taken the time to go to God to see life from His perspective, the night wouldn’t have been as wonderful. Option charts can help us have a happy Christian marriage because they help us see marriage and life from a biblical perspective. And life always looks better from a biblical perspective! Resources We Talked About on the Podcast: * Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas * Freedom from Emotional Eating * Blank Option Charts * Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend Link to sign up for podcast interviews or questions for the podcast: Podcast Interviews

In today’s episode of the Christian Habits Podcast, I visit with blogger and author, Arabah Joy, about her PROSPER Bible Study method. Arabah is one of those wise women of God who always has great things to share. In our podcast interview, she goes through the PROSPER acronym to share how she studies the Word. PROSPER Bible Study Method – Printable and Bookmark Arabah has a bookmark and worksheet you can print out at her blog to help you with this method. Here’s the link to that: PROSPER Bible Study Method Printable and Bookmark. She also has a video series on the method that you can access at that link. PROSPER Bible Study Method Let’s take a look at what PROSPER stands for: P – Pray – The first thing Arabah does is to choose a passage to study for the whole week. I actually love this idea because you can choose a passage of Scripture based on an area of life you think God might want you to work on. Before she begins each day, she prays and asks God to help her understand the Scripture. R – Read – The next thing she does is to read the Scripture every day, preferably in a different translation each day. This is a great way to get the Word into us and help us become really familiar with one passage. O – Observe – The next thing Arabah does is to observe the passage. Here’s a list of 10 questions she often asks in this step of the PROSPER Bible study method: Bible Observation Questions. She’ll spend one day of the week on this step. S – Study – After observing the passage, she’ll spend the next day studying the passage. One of the things she likes to do is a word study. (She shares more on this and all of these steps in the podcast.) P – Ponder – In this step Arabah spends time meditating on the passage, thinking about it while she works around the house. This is a helpful step for moms of small children who don’t have as much time to sit down and study, but you could also do it in the car on the way to work or out on a walk. E – Engage – With this step, Arabah starts thinking about application. How does this Bible study apply to our lives? R – Repetitive Action – And with this final step Arabah talks about setting up different actions she can repeat on a daily level based on what she learned from the Bible passage. I’m very intrigued by this Bible study method and hope you’ll give it a try!  

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night worrying about something? Does worry hound your days, keeping you from feeling God’s presence and stealing your peace? If so, this post (and podcast) will help. We’ll talk about how to stop worrying with God’s help. How to Stop Worrying This post grew out of one of my morning quiet times with God. Sometimes on the days I have a hard time concentrating, I’ll do a topical word study for my quiet time. I’ll go to my Blue Letter Bible app, click on the button to take me to their website, and plug in a word I want to search. This morning, my words were anxious and anxiety. Here’s what I learned about how to stop worrying from the Bible: * Lean on God for support. When we’re in turmoil, it feels good to have someone put their arms around us and comfort us–especially when we trust the person. God is that person X 100. He’s always there to console us, and He’s more than able to handle the situation we’re worried about. Psalm 94:19 says, When my anxious thoughts multipy within me, your consolations delight my soul. We just need to take the time to lean on God and be consoled! * Get an eternal perspective. So often we worry because we’re looking at life from a cultural perspective. When we look at it from an eternal perspective, life doesn’t look so bleak. Psalm 139:23-24 says, Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. The word search means to examine intimately. God can show us when we’re looking at life culturally rather than biblically. Switching our perspective will help us stop worrying. * Pray and ask for help with thanksgiving. Paul tells us in Philippians 4:6 to be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. When we’re worried, it helps to do this: ask God for help and then start thanking Him for everything we can think of to thank Him for, including His provision in this situation. Thankfulness stops worry. We can’t guarantee that God will give us what we want, but we can guarantee that He’ll be enough even if we don’t get what we want. * Develop a close walk with God. Jeremiah 17:8 says,  For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.  The tree doesn’t need to fear because it has long roots that hold it up even in a drought. If we have a deep foundation with God before trouble comes, our past relationship will be enough to hold us up and keep us steadfast. It’s harder to focus on God when we’re in deep turmoil so it’s important to have that solid foundation. * Give your worries to God. When my kids were little, I had a hard time leaving them for the few trips I took without them. As the plane flew away from our little town with me in it, I could feel the apron strings breaking about an hour into the trip.

Many of us are exhausted because we’re not just trying to love people well–we’re trying to please them. On today’s podcast, Olu Sobanjo and I talk about how to break free from people pleasing. Olu Sobanjo is a recovering people pleaser and host of the Like Jesus Podcast.   In the Like Jesus Podcast, Olu shares tips and stories to show others how to be set free from people pleasing to live and love like Jesus lived and loved. In this episode of the Christian Habits Podcast, Olu and I discuss how people pleasing affects our work, relationships, and emotions. We also share tips on how to break free from it. If you struggle with people pleasing, I hope you’ll join us for the discussion! Resources by Olu Sobanjo * Olu’s podcast: Like Jesus Podcast with Olu Sobanjo * Olu Sobanjo’s website: olusobanjo.com * Olu’s quiet time guide   How to Listen to the Christian Habits Podcast To listen and subscribe on iTunes: click here * To listen and subscribe on Android: click here * To listen and subscribe on Stitcher: click here * To listen and subscribe on Google Play: click here P.S. You may also notice that there is a new podcast picture this week. I decided to replace the old one since that picture was taken back in 2013!

Do you ever find yourself setting boundaries for breaking a habit, then ignoring those boundaries and going your merry way, breaking your habit right and left? I know I do. This is especially common with non-sin habits. Because with those habits, we tend to think, Is it really that big of a deal if I practice my habit? The answer to that question is, “Yes.” After all, if it wasn’t a big deal, we wouldn’t be trying to break our habit! If you struggle with breaking a habit, this episode of the Christian Habits Podcast will help. First, we’ll talk about the lies that keep us from breaking a habit. Then we’ll use the carelessness questions and Bible verses from the Renewing of the Mind Project to renew our minds on the spot. Following are the lies we’ll be discussing: 7 Lies That Keep You From Breaking a Habit * I haven’t been able to do this in the past so I won’t be able to do it now. It’s hard to make ourselves work on breaking a habit because we think, Why bother when I’ve already failed so much in the past? I won’t be able to do this anyway. Here’s the truth though: At some point, we’ll be able to break it with God’s help. What if the figure skater had given up on her triple lutz after 100 times of not being able to do it? She would have missed out on the 101st time which was her success! The truth is, it takes a long time to break habits–sometimes even years. But if we give up, we miss out on the freedom at the end of the tunnel. * It’s not a big deal if I do my habit just this one time. This is what we tell ourselves when the going gets hard. But here’s the truth: If we’re truly trying to break a habit, we need to be super consistent about never breaking our boundaries. It’s easy to see this with drugs, alcohol, and smoking. But it’s just as important with other habits such as Facebook, overeating, and spending. The only difference is that instead of totally doing away with our habit, we’re just setting firm boundaries. So for example, we still need to spend money at times, but we never break our budget. We still eat, but we never break our eating boundaries. * My habit isn’t hurting anyone. This is another thing we tell ourselves, but here’s the truth: even with non-sin habits, it still hurts someone. It hurts God because we turn to our habits rather than him for help with life. It hurts others because we shut them out in favor of our habit. It hurts us because we give up personal growth, health, and personal well-being to do our habits. Those habits may be fun in the moment, but long-term they lead to depression, stress, discouragement, and hopelessness–even if the activity is good in and of itself. It’s the addiction to it that hurts us. * I should be able to walk in the freedom that belongs to me in Christ. Why isn’t God helping me to do that? Often we think there’s something wrong with us if our habit controls us. We define freedom as being free from doing our bad habits and sins. But here’s the truth: We already walk in freedom because God doesn’t require us to be perfect. We’re saved by grace through faith–not by being perfect through not breaking our habits. Jesus has already helped us live in freedom through dying on the cross. The Holy Spirit helps us walk in freedom on a sanctification level. And that’s a daily walk that won’t finish until we go to heaven. * I’ll just try to be better (and that will help me break my habit).

Do you ever find yourself worrying about your loved ones rather than praying for them? I know I do. A woman in one of my Bible studies once said that worry is the enemy’s manipulation of prayer. In today’s podcast, we’ll be talking about how to pray for loved ones. Here are the seven steps we’ll be discussing, all based on Philippians 1:3-19: How to Pray for Loved Ones * Thank God for what He has already done in them. (vs 3-5) So often we dwell on the worrisome in our loved ones and ignore all the things to be thankful for. God has already worked in their lives and for that we can be thankful. This first step is all about thankfulness and dwelling on the good. That’s important when there is so much we can dwell on that isn’t good. After all, isn’t that one of the reasons we’re praying? Because we’re worried? * Recognize that He who began a good work will complete it! (vs. 6) So often we forget that and think that we’re the ones beginning the good work and we need to complete it! And so not only do we worry and fret, we also do whatever we can to control this situation–forgetting that God is the one who is really in control! This step is all about trusting God and thanking Him for who is He is in this situation. * Mentally give up control to God. This step isn’t in Philippians 1:1-21 but it’s a natural outgrowth of the first two steps. As we recognize who God is and who we aren’t, it becomes apparent that we need to give up control. But we’re not really giving up control–we’re giving up the illusion of control. Because let’s face it–we can’t control everything we want to control in life! Because of that, it’s helpful to take a moment to realize that and release the reigns (that we never had) to God. * Remember that we are fellow partakers of grace. (vs. 7) So often when we pray for others, we subconsciously think of ourselves as the wise, mature ones and those others as the ones who really need God in their lives. Here’s the truth: even if we’re more mature (and that’s not always the case), we’re still on a level playing field. We both need Gods grace. We are fellow partakers of His grace. This helps because it makes their situation seem less desperate. It’s not us up here and them down there. It’s both of us needing grace from God. * Pray for them. (vs. 9-11) All right. Finally–at step five–we’re getting to the point where we are actually praying for what we think they need. But here’s the thing. What we think they need is often different than what God thinks they need! If you look at Philippians 1:9-11, Paul wasn’t praying that the Philippians would have great lives on earth. He wasn’t praying for fun and easy, which is what we often pray for. He prayed that their love would abound more and more in real knowledge and discernment and that they would know the hope of His calling. We’ll talk more about that on the podcast. * Remember that what is happening to our loved ones can serve to advance the gospel–both in the world and in their own lives. (vs. 12-14) In these verses, Paul talks about how his own trial–his imprisonment–is serving to advance the gospel. His mom may have been worrying about him, but Paul was saying, “No, this is okay. It will advance the gospel.” Trials can bring our Christian loved ones closer to God and mature them and it can bring our non-Christian loved ones to God. Remembering that will help us feel better about what they’re going through.

Do you ever sit down to have your quiet time with God and then – poof – your mind is somewhere else? Maybe you’re planning a list. Or thinking about what happened last night. Or worrying about the day ahead. You want to focus on God but you can’t make yourself do it. This has happened to me many times over the course of my walk with God. In recent years, I’ve discovered that my learning style affects my quiet times. In today’s podcast, we’ll look at how to use your learning style to help you enjoy and look forward to your times with God. We’ll talk about the following learning styles: 1) kinesthetic, 2) auditory and 3) visual. Visual learners learn best by seeing things. They like images, diagrams, maps, and charts. Auditory learners learn best by listening. While I often tune out listening to a lecture or someone giving directions, an auditory learner will listen and learn. Kinesthetic learners learn best by doing. For example, they might study for a test while walking on the treadmill. Or if they’re learning how to computer program, they’ll learn best by getting involved right away in the programming without a long explanation. How Your Learning Style Affects Your Quiet Time So how does that affect a quiet time? We’ll talk about that on the podcast, but here’s an example. I’m both a visual and a kinesthetic learner plus I’m a bit ADD so I do best with my quiet time if I’m actively involved in the process. One of the things I’ll do if my mind isn’t focusing well is to diagram the Scripture. Here’s a picture of my journal from my quiet time this morning: As you can see, I don’t worry about being neat or organized. I just diagram. This helps me focus, and it also gives me a summary of the Scripture so I can look back over it afterward and pray through it. I wrote down a couple of my prayers on the right side of the page on the bottom, but I usually just pray those without writing them down because once my mind is stirred up from being actively involved in writing and diagramming the Bible verses, it’s easy for me to focus on prayer. Some Ideas for Your Quiet Time So if you’re finding yourself either bored with your quiet time or just too easily distracted, try doing some different things in your quiet time. Here are a few things to try: * Try diagramming a Bible passage like I just did. * Try listening to the Bible on tape. You could try an audio Bible app on Android or iOS. As you listen, turn it off and take breaks every once in awhile to meditate on it and talk to God about it. * Try putting on some quiet instrumental music while you’re reading your Bible to see if that help you concentrate any better. * Try praying while walking. You would think a kinesthetic learner might be helped by this but for some reason, I’ve had a hard time learning this practice. I’m just now getting to the point where I enjoy it and can focus on God and pray while walking. * Try taking a retreat with God every once in awhile in addition to your daily times with Him. It could be a whole day or just a couple of hours. Last year I went to Missoula once a month for a prayer/Bible retreat with God. I felt like I needed that to keep my relationship with Him strong because I was still struggling with idolatry in the writing/people pleasing arena.

Do you ever wish you were more positive? Or could more easily focus on the good rather than the bad in people and life? If so, today’s podcast will help. We’ll talk about how to develop a thankfulness habit. Part of developing a thankfulness habit is learning to focus on the good. Listen to what Paul says about that in Philippians 4:8: Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. When we focus on the good, not only are we happier–the people around us are also happier! In this podcast, we’ll look at some steps we can take to focus on the good and be thankful. How to Listen to the Christian Habits Podcast To listen and subscribe on iTunes: click here To listen and subscribe on Android: click here To listen and subscribe on Stitcher: click here To listen and subscribe on Google Play: click here Note: If you have a smart phone, you can download an app to listen to podcasts on your android or iPhone. New phones usually have the app already installed. If you haven’t subscribed to the podcast, new episodes may take several hours to show up on iTunes.

Have you ever thought about journaling as a way to grow closer to God? Or have you wanted to start a journaling habit, but you can’t make yourself do it? Or maybe you don’t know where to begin? If so, this podcast episode on journaling for the soul will help. I’ll be interviewing Deborah Haddix, who recently published a book called Journaling for the Soul. The book describes 50 different ways to journal, along with tips on how to develop a journaling habit. These are journaling techniques that will draw us closer to God as we use them to pray, study Scripture, and do a little soul-searching. On the podcast, Deborah will be explaining some of those journaling methods. She’ll also give us tips that will help you develop a journaling habit if you’re struggling with that. Resources We Talked About On the Podcast * Deb’s book: Journaling for the Soul: A Handbook of Journaling Methods * Deb’s website, deborahhaddix.com * Deb’s resources for praying for your children and grandchildren We’d love to hear from you! We’d love to hear about your own experiences with journaling: how it’s affected your relationship with God, how it’s helped you grow, your struggles and successes with it, or anything else you’d like to share! Also, if you give any of these journaling methods a try–or if you have any journaling methods you’d like to share–we’d love to hear about it.  Let us know in the comment section below! How to Listen to the Christian Habits Podcast To listen and subscribe on iTunes: click here To listen and subscribe on Android: click here To listen and subscribe on Stitcher: click here To listen and subscribe on Google Play: click here  

Do you ever think, If only my spouse would change, then I’d be happy? If you’ve been married for any length of time, you’ve probably thought that at least once. Unfortunately, God hasn’t given us a magic wand to change our spouses! That’s okay though. Here are 10 tips to help you when your spouse won’t change. 10 Tips For When Your Spouse Won’t Change 1. Recognize that you can’t change everyone you want to change. Now you might be thinking, Isn’t this a no-brainer? Doesn’t everyone know that? Well, no. I didn’t. It took me almost 20 years to learn that little fact. I always thought that if I could just think of that one thing to say–that one sparkling, shiny thought–that then my husband would see the light and say, “Where have you been all my life? Of course I want to change!” I kept trying to find that sparkly thought, but I never found it. Then I started truth journaling. And after two months of truth journaling the same thoughts over and over, God finally got through my thick head and said, “Barb! Wake up! I haven’t given you the power to change everyone.” That was back in the days when I thought I was the good guy and my husband was the bad guy. God used the annoying faults of my husband to point out my own annoying faults (one of them being a critical and condemning spirit). God taught me how to love and enjoy people in their as-is condition, which brings me to the next point. 2. Recognize that your spouse isn’t as bad as you think he or she is. I was operating under the impression that some faults are terrible and other faults aren’t that bad. Interestingly, all of my faults fit into the “not that bad” category. My husband’s faults fit into the “terrible” category. I was delusional. My husband was a great person, just a very different person than I. With different strengths, weaknesses, preferences, and priorities. Who was I to say that I was the good one and he was the bad one? We both had sinful tendencies. God in His kindness put us together because He wanted us to rub off on each other. That’s happened. I like silence much more than I used to, and my husband likes conversation much more than he used to. I’m more accepting of others than I used to be and he’s more willing to change than he used to be.  This brings me to the next point. 3. Ask your spouse if he’s willing to change. I know. I said we couldn’t change our spouses. But we can ask them to change. The question is, “How do you do that?” When I used to ask my husband to change, it was usually late at night, when I was extremely hurt or annoyed. Do I need to say that those conversations didn’t go well? He felt threatened and attacked, and I felt like he didn’t love me enough to work out our problems. If you’re going to bring up something, do it in a loving way. Pray through 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 or Colossians 3:12-15 so you’re in a loving mood when you start. You may also want to truth journal or go through these annoyance questions first so you have the truth at the front of your mind. Then bring up your subject in a respectful, way.

Are you a Christian writer who struggles with finding your identity in Christ? Are you going through a trial that’s shaking your identity? In this episode of the Christian Habits Podcast, Matt Rial shares how his recent injury affected both his writing and his identity. As we visit together about the experience and life in general as a writer, I hope you’ll be able to find some ideas to help with your own struggles with identity and trials that shake your identity. Here are some of the resources we talked about on the show: * Matt’s blog: Wasteland Kings * Bible studies on some of the subjects we talked about on the blog * Wasteland Kings Facebook page. Taste for Truth Podcast I also wanted to remind everyone that the Taste for Truth Christian Weight Loss Podcast is up and running. This podcast will have interviews similar to what you’ve seen on the Christian Habits Podcast. We’ll also have tips, author interviews, and opportunities to renew your mind while you listen to the podcast. If you’d like to find out more about that, click here. How to Listen to the Christian Habits Podcast To listen and subscribe on iTunes: click here To listen and subscribe on Android: click here To listen and subscribe on Stitcher: click here To listen and subscribe on Google Play: click here

See also:  Taste for Truth Christian Weight Loss Podcast. Click here for more info! Click here to view on iTunes. Do you ever feel like you can’t stop thinking about food? Or do you struggle with obsessing about losing weight, exercise, or eating healthy? If so, this interview with Asheritah Ciuciu on the Christian Habits Podcast will help! We’ll be visiting about how to overcome food fixation, which she discusses in her new book which goes on sale today,  Full: Food, Jesus, and the Battle for Satisfaction. I’ve previewed her book and it looks like a great resource. Here’s a description of Asheritah’s book on Amazon: “Have you ever felt stuck in a seemingly endless cycle of overeating, yo-yo dieting, and obsessive thoughts about food? Whether you feel defeated by your lack of self-control or overwhelmed by thoughts and longings for food, the answer to our food fixation does not lie in the $500 billion global diet industry. This is not a diet book and it’s not a healthy eating plan. Because at the core, our problem is not really what we eat. It’s why we seek fullness in something that will never satisfy. Join Asheritah Ciuciu as she shares honestly about her own battles with food and reveals the path to freedom. You’ll discover the joy of living free from food fixation so you can experience deeper satisfaction in Christ, gain a renewed sense of purpose, and yes, even enjoy good food (without regret). A healthier relationship with food through a stronger relationship with Christ—that’s the goal of Full.” Join us on the podcast as we discuss this book by Asheritah Ciuciu and the things in the book! Click here to see the book on Amazon. Free Christian Mom Summit (Also Great if You’re Not a Mom!) This is a great series of interviews with Dr. Eve Rosno that I’ve found very helpful! It will run from 1/2/17 to 1/14/17 and I’ll be speaking on mindful eating on the 11th. Click here for details!

Have you ever met someone who reached out to you and seemed to like you right away? Have you ever wanted to be that person for someone else? In this episode of the Christian Habits Podcast, I’ll be visiting with Micah Brooks about how to treat everyone like a 10–whether you’ve known them for a long time or you’re just meeting them for the first time. Micah wrote about this subject in a recent online devotion. Here’s an excerpt of his post: “I believe that in life we tend to give everyone around us a score. We score people when we first meet them (first impressions) and when we’ve known them a while (built upon a list of their strengths and shortcomings). It’s probably pretty hard to get a “10 out of 10” on any one of our current people-scales. However, a new way of thinking is to begin to score everyone a “10”. No one gets less. No one gets immediately criticized (in your mind) when you first meet them. Those you’ve known for a while get a free pass and become a “10” to you now.” Micah’s post reminds me of Philippians 4:8, where Paul tells us to dwell on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. That can be hard to do when you’ve been in a relationship with a person for a long time. With those long-term relationships, we often begin to dwell on people’s faults because we know them so well. Not only does that make us discontent in the relationship, it also gets in the way of loving that person well. In this podcast Micah will give us some insights on how to treat people that we’re in long-term relationships with as a 10 and also the people we meet each day. We’ll also be discussing how to treat others like a 10 when we feel like a zero. Here are some of the Bible verses we mentioned on the podcast: * Insecurity Bible verses * John 15:12 * 1 Corinthians 13 * Philippians 4:8 * Matthew 22:36-40 We also mentioned some guitar books that Micah has published: * Worship Guitar In Six Week (Micah’s book on Amazon) * 42 Guitar Chords Everyone Should Know (Micah’s book on Amazon) * Special offer: You can also find Micah’s books and all kinds of other great resources at micahbrooks.com, including guitar lessons via Skype! If you sign up for 6 weeks worth of lessons, Micah will give you the book “Worship Guitar in Six Weeks” for free with the lessons. Just mention that you heard about it on this blog post or the podcast. Micah is also the editor in chief at

See also:  Taste for Truth Christian Weight Loss Podcast. Click here for more info! Click here to view on iTunes. Do you ever eat or do your habit out of boredom? Most of us do. On today’s episode of the Christian Habits Podcast, we’ll talk about how to stop boredom eating and boredom habiting. It’s particularly tempting to give in to boredom eating and habiting when we’re in a long boring stretch of life or when we’ve just finished something exciting and are having a hard time adjusting back to real life. That’s how I’m feeling today. I just got back from a super fun vacation–a biblical counseling conference, a couple of days with two of our adult children, and a 3 day backpacking trip in the gorgeous Beartooth Mountains–and this morning I’m having a hard time getting back to real life. Knowing my tendencies after a vacation, I thought I better get started right away this morning renewing my mind. Fortunately I was in Galatians 5 for my daily quiet time, which was the perfect section of Scripture to renew my mind with. We’ll renew our minds with that passage on the podcast and also with the boredom questions and Bible verses from I Deserve a Donut (And Other Lies That Make You Eat), but before we do that, let’s take a look at some practical things we can do to help with boredom eating and boredom habiting. How to Stop Boredom Eating and Boredom Habiting If you want to stop boredom eating or boredom habiting, try this plan: * Divide your day up into segments. It’s a lot easier to indulge in boredom eating and boredom habiting if you feel like the whole day is stretching out forever. * Plan each segment of the day. What are you going to do during that time period? How much time do you have to fill before the next scheduled event? That scheduled event may be a meeting with a friend, a job, or an appointment, or it may just be a natural break of the day such as lunch or supper. * Try to get out of the house if possible. As you plan your day, try to plan at least one thing that will take you out of the house at some point if you don’t have a job or other things that naturally take you out. This will break up the day a bit and help you since you won’t have a whole day at home to manage. * Renew your mind throughout the day. It’s essential to do this so we change our thinking and look at life from God’s perspective. Take my day today, for example. I’m starting out from a “life should be fun!” perspective. After all, I’ve just been on vacation for six days. But that’s not what God says life is about. He says life is about loving Him and others–I have all kinds of opportunities to do that today. My backpack trip was a wonderful time of fellowship with God and fun with my husband, but I didn’t really get a lot of opportunities to love others on my trip. Today I will. That’s a good thing, not a bad thing! If you’d like help renewing your mind, join me on the podcast. We’ll be talking about the following questions and Bible verses: Boredom Questions

One of the things I’ve struggled with as a writer is self-condemnation. I’m not a Type A person who is capable of getting a lot done each day, but for some reason I expect myself to be. When I fail to live up to my unrealistic expectations for work, I often slip into self-condemnation mode. This gets in the way of growing and becoming a more productive person because I’m too busy beating myself up! If  you struggle with self-condemnation like I do, today’s episode of the Christian Habits Podcast will help. Click here to find out how to listen to the podcast. We’ll be talking about 6 steps to breaking free from self-condemnation and then we’ll use the self-condemnation questions and Bible verses from I Deserve a Donut (And Other Lies That Make You Eat) and the Renewing of the Mind Project to renew our minds together. Here are the steps we’ll be discussing: 6 Steps to Breaking Free from Self-Condemnation * Learn to recognize when you’re condemning yourself. Look for it on days of failure. * Recognize that growth is a process. It takes time, and you’ll never be perfect. * Hold your goal with open hands. Don’t make it an idol. * Remember that God is in charge of growth. We have a responsibility to renew our minds and look for practical things we can do to change, but we can’t control how quickly growth happens. That’s up to God. When we realize that we’ll be less likely to condemn ourself and trust in God to change us in His time. * Walk in the Spirit, not the flesh. We’ll talk about what that looks like on the podcast. * Be faithful to renew your mind whenever you catch yourself condemning yourself. We’ll do that together on the podcasts. Here are the questions and Bible verses we’ll be using from I Deserve a Donut (And Other Lies That Make You Eat): Self-Condemnation Journaling Questions Why do you think you’re a failure (terrible person, bad Christian, etc.)? Does that really make you a failure (terrible person/bad Christian, etc.)? Why or why not? * Whose standards are you using to determine whether or not you’re acceptable? What does God think of those standards? How does God feel about you? (See insecurity verses for ideas.) God is not a condemning perfectionist parent. He’s a loving Father who says, “Come to me, my beloved, and let me help.” In what areas do you need help? Take some time to ask Him to help you with those areas. Is there anything you need to accept? Is there anything God wants you to do? What can you thank God for in this situation? * If you’re having a hard time answering this question, look through the insecurity verses and think about grace. If you’re going the bad Christian route, think about the life of David and Romans 3:23. Self-Condemnation Bible Verses Psalm 37:23-24 The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the Lord is the One who holds his hand. Psalm 145:8, 14 The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. The Lord sustains all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down. Psalm 147:2-3 The Lord builds up Jerusalem; He gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious t...