In a recent sermon at Saddleback Church, Warren said the first roadblock to change is time. The pastor and author said a person has practiced a bad habit “for so long” that change seems impossible.
The second reason is that Christians often confuse their identities with their defects. They may tell themselves, “I am a workaholic, I am passive, I am aggressive, I’m timid, I’m an overeater or I’m lazy,” among other things.
“Those defects, they’re not your true identity. … They are hiding your true identity,” Warren explained.
Third, Warren noted that “whether it’s good or bad, helpful or unhelpful, healthy or unhealthy, there’s a payoff behind” a bad habit. Sometimes this payoff could be emotional, relational or other reinforcement.
He said, “You get rewarded for that defect. And listen, whatever gets rewarded gets repeated.”
The fourth reason is that “Satan discourages me,” Warren said Christians are not in this battle by themselves because “[Satan] wants to keep you stuck in a rut.”
The Bible calls Satan the accuser. In fact, that’s what his name means. … He’s the adversary.
Warren said the secret to personal change is not about willpower, pills or resolutions to change. Instead, personal change can only happen with “knowing and facing the truth about you, about God, about life, about problems, about your family, about your past [and] about growing up.”