Vol. 3, No.

5 The Monthly Letter of New Creation Light May 1982

HOW TO 'KICK THE HABIT’

Why are so-called "bad habits" so difficult to break? You say to yourself, "I know this is
hurting me, but I don't seem to have the power to kick it."
And before I have time to respond to that, you say to me, "Look, I've heard all that stuff you say
about 'my belief becomes my experience.' So maybe it's true and maybe it's not. All I know for sure is I
still have this habit, along with whatever is behind it, and your wonderful statements of truth haven't
made any difference--I'm still stuck!"
Well, be glorious! No statement of truth ever had any power to do anything to or for anybody.
Take the Scriptures, for instance. They've been quoted and hollered from the pulpits, rooftops, and streets
of the world down through the ages. Yet we find little evidence of the peace and unity they promise.
Instead they have been "adopted" as the basis for a multitude of religious factions which have fostered
centuries of strife and war and division in place of the promised "peace which passeth all understanding."
So why shouldn't you be weary of high-sounding statements? Again, you might say to me:
"Aren't these declarations you're making in this very letter supposed to be statements of truth? And if you
are right in saying they have no power to do anything, why write them to me in the first place?"
Well, you know, I sometimes wonder why more folks don't get around to asking me that. Maybe
some are more comfortable dismissing my work as just another one of those "factions." However, if you
are one who asks these questions in earnest, I'm not going to let you off that easy.
See, your bad habits are still with you because you have your own "statements of truth" with
which you badger yourself constantly. And perhaps you've even thought sometimes that my job is to send
you a new set of them every month, so you can feel unworthy from my wonderful perspective instead of
whoever else's you've been using for that purpose.
You tell yourself, "I should _____ or I should not _____ because_____."
Big deal.
Aren't you a righteous rascal for doing that number on yourself all the time. But what did it ever
do for you except make you feel bad? And where did you get this stuff from in the first place?
Get the picture?
Extensive research (yours and mine) has shown that telling yourself these things is less than
useless, by itself.
"So what's missing?"
Terrific question! And for the answer, let's hear from the Master Christ Jesus and His most
accomplished student, our brother Paul:
If you abide in My word . . . you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
(John 8:31-32)
 . . . the letter kills, but the Spirit gives Life. (2 Cor. 3:6)
. . . the words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and are Life. (John 6:63)

If you will seriously ponder these statements for a while, you will begin to understand that the
words you tell yourself are valuable only insofar as they can lead you to the Spirit (Consciousness) of
Truth. When you come to "know" (feel, experience) Truth Itself in your own individual consciousness,
you will find yourself free.
Now let's go back to your question about the words of this letter. If the Spirit (Consciousness) of
Truth is expressing them through this instrumentality, as this channel called John, then they are Spirit
and Life to you if you are receptive to them. And they will serve to awaken you to this same
Consciousness of Truth within yourself. But without the Spirit, the letter can be heavy and discouraging--
even deadly to your human life, according to Paul.
Do you begin to see why your struggle to free yourself has been such a magnificent exercise in
futility? The words you have been using to torture yourself have no power to do anything but make
you miserable:
"I'm a real low-life person."
"Mom always said I wouldn't amount to much."
"I've just gotta do something about this."
"I can't seem to do anything about this."
"What a disgrace I am to my… _ family."
_ church."
_ community."
_ country."
_ planet."
"I'm not as strong as ________ is."
"I'll probably always be this way."
"I should really get busy and try to kick this thing."
"How did I get so messed up? And yet I know better."

Is this the kind of furniture you have cluttering up your mental household? To borrow a thought
from the brilliant Milton Erickson: "Why dig through an old broken-down house when you can just move
to a new one?"
Attack the problem and you give it the only power it can have over you. You have "moved in
with it," so to speak.
This time around, why not review the situation from the perspective of the Master. He says,
“Resist not evil" (Matt. 5:39). He says you can move to a new place in consciousness called "know
(experience) the Truth," where the bad habit isn't.
Paul tells us plainly, "The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is Life and
Peace" (Romans 8:6). So let me ask you a question: When you're struggling with your favorite bad habit,
on which of these is your mind set? Hmmmmm?
Gotcha!
 Okay, let's put it all together, shall we? Exactly how are you going to rid yourself of those bad
habits this letter has brought back so vividly to your thinking?
First of all, quit resisting them! Give up all attempts to reform yourself, forever.
Secondly, begin immediately to set your mind on the things of the Spirit of Truth—words of
Scripture or other spiritual teaching to which you find yourself receptive. Do this, not to learn statements,
but to open your consciousness to experience the Spirit of Truth Itself, which will "bear witness . . .
that we are the children of God" and therefore One with Him in Consciousness. It is this kind of knowing
which makes us free.
When this great central Truth begins to be Reality to you, your bad habits will drop away from
your life automatically, because you are losing the false beliefs and appetites which sustain them.
You let them pass away from you by turning your attention completely away from battling them, and
abiding in the Truth of your Chris thood--your Oneness with God.
Now there is one more thing you must do to gain your freedom, and chances are, when I tell you
what it is, you won't like it. But my business is to tell you anyhow. What you do about it—that's your
business.
So here it is: You must stop associating with people outside your home who tend to drag you
down or draw you away from the spiritual path. No, I don't care how much you think you are obligated to
your relatives or friends or associates.
Think again!
What good are you to anyone while you're stuck in your rut? All in the world you are doing
behind that so-called good will is supporting complacency—yours as well as theirs. As long as you
stay stuck, you're no bother to anyone around you who may also be dozing through life.
But once you begin to quiver just a little with the Life of the Spirit, most of your well-meaning
world will begin to feel very disturbed, and try to put out the fire in you before it gets bright enough to
expose them in the depth of their rut. Now you tell me how are the rut-dwellers going to discover their
own inner magnificence if no one among them has the chutzpah to just light up and burn with the Fire of
the Spirit?
Right here and now I'm challenging you to cut yourself free from all those human anchors and
find some brothers and sisters who will fan your Fire, not try to snuff it out!
Are you willing to be alone with yourself, more than you have ever been before in your life?
Are you ready to quit "needing" other people?
Are you determined enough to begin to love them by looking through their humanness to
behold the Divine Life hidden within them until It shines forth into expression?
Of course you must do all these things secretly. There is no faster way to get lots of practice
starting over than to talk about what you're up to.
And above all, please remember this: There is nothing to become—you need only come to
know what you already are.
Nothing real has ever been less than perfect.
Love and Peace,
John
 WORDS WORTH REPEATING
I, on My part, said, "You are gods, and all of you are sons of the
Most High."
Psalm 82:6