Bad habits can be passed down from one generation to the next and they can be very hard to break.
Years ago, author and speaker Dave Roever wrote a story that sheds some light on the dangers of bad habits:
“Once upon a time, there was a naughty hobbit who lived in a dark crevice of a cave deep in the heart of Never-Never Land. He was constantly involved in a struggle with those in authority over him. He was continually coming out of his cave rudely and most unsightly. He was always interrupting and interfering with all he met, and he refused to be corrected. What’s worse is this bad little hobbit did not live alone. When his unscrupulous behavior could no longer be tolerated and he was commanded to return to his cave, he caused such a huge commotion in which the entire community felt threatened.
Seeing the distraction, his naughty little friends took advantage of the moment to slip out of the crevices and reveal themselves.
Prince Ira Thority had put up with these bad hobbits for years but had failed to break their strong will.
“On occasions Prince Ira Thority entertained them. After each encounter, he vowed that he would never, never allow these bad hobbits back into his palace.
Prince Ira Thority knew that bad hobbits were never intended to be in a palace fit for a king.
But the bad hobbits did not fear Prince Ira Thority and kept returning to the palace again, and again, and again.
“Seeking anonymity, silly bad hobbits think they are well hidden behind the trappings of brown paper wrappings. Frequently bad hobbits hide in the same places.
Peeking over the railing of a magazine rack or bundled in a brown paper bag, the hobbit thinks he’s hidden.
“Besides that, some of the bad hobbits who try so hard to hide forget you can smell them coming.
Bad hobbits aren’t very smart! They leave footprints everywhere they have been. While some bad hobbits can’t walk a straight line, others are told to stand outside during work hours.
“Sometimes bad hobbits don’t use brown paper wrappings.
Some bad hobbits arrive by download leaving footprints and cookie crumbs on the hard drive.
“With every promise to banish the bad hobbits to Never-Never Land, Prince Ira discovered sadly, in moments of his weakness, when people in the kingdom just didn’t understand his pain and no one knew what he was going through, that some of these bad hobbits had been around throughout his family’s history.
Prince Ira’s father, King Noah Thority, was well acquainted with the bad hobbits and used some of them against Prince Ira, and the son had the scars to prove it.
“King Noah was really a ‘Noah-it-all.’
When warned that bad hobbits could be hazardous to his health, he laughed and said, “#!%*, I’ve been doing it since I was Ira’s age, and I’m not dead yet!”
“In this great conflict between King Noah Thority and the bad hobbits, the bad hobbits won!
King Noah Thority died.
His kingdom was wrecked.
All his wealth went up in smoke.
He lost it all!
Well, not quite all.
He did leave something for Prince Ira Thority.
In the dark crevices of the cave in the heart of Never-Never Land, King Noah Thority left Prince Ira Thority all the bad hobbits that would leave the son bankrupt, broken and ashamed.
You see, bad hobbits are hard to break.
“Now, Prince Ira Thority must decide: Do I break the bad hobbits with all of their will and strength, or do I let the bad hobbits break me?”
The Bible tells us in Hebrews 12:1– “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (NIV)
In other words, take authority over your bad habits or they will take authority over you!

Rev. Doug Johnson is the senior pastor at Raven Assembly of God in Raven, Virginia.