3 Things God Told Me to Give Up

He gave me a new heart with new desires

Walking with Jesus guarantees transformations. It changes who we are, what we do, and what we want as we align ourselves with God’s will.

Here are 3 small, yet significant examples that negatively impacted my behavior, and how I spent my time and money. Since giving them up, I’m happier, healthier, closer to God, and aligned with the purpose he has for my life.

1. Alcohol

I always enjoyed a social drink, especially at birthdays, weddings, Christmas, etc. But the more frequent setting would be when catching up with my girlfriends at one of our homes over a glass (or two) of wine, or at a local cocktail bar on my child-free weekend.

When dealing with immense emotional pain I would drink alone. Not excessively — maybe a glass or two in the evenings to escape my feelings. Thankfully those episodes weren’t as regular as the ‘happy’ social drinking.

I’ve never been one to ‘handle’ my drink well and I didn’t like how it clouded my judgment and made me think and act. Not to mention the headaches and nausea that came the next day.

Considering I was never an alcoholic it might seem strange that God would lead me to give it up. But my appetite for alcohol changed the closer I grew to Him.

My last drink was 18th December 2023 at my work Christmas party. My desire for alcohol had already left by that point but I succumbed to peer pressure, immediately regretted it, and haven’t consumed alcohol since.

That’s not to say I’m ‘sober’ forever, but I genuinely feel happier and healthier without it, and this alone outweighs any foreseeable desire to drink.

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” — 1 Peter 5:8

2. Social media

I used to have an unhealthy doom-scrolling habit when using social media that consumed hours of my life and distracted me from being present and productive.

Even though I mainly followed Christian content, I still noticed that many posts were boastful, which made me question my walk with God and feel envious for not being as ‘blessed’ as other Christians.

I got sick of comparing myself to other people, feeling like the background character in my own story whilst unintentionally idolizing the people I followed.

I hated the feeling that my worth was defined by what I looked like and what I did on holiday. I hated the way it affected what I believed, the way I saw myself, and the way I saw the world.

Despite its main objective being to encourage human connection, it made me feel more disconnected and more discontent, which led me to use it for the wrong purposes. Instead of glorifying God, I used social media to glorify myself by showing off. It’s a cringe-worthy and embarrassing reflection of how I portrayed myself. I was in it for the approval and validation. For the followers and the likes.

I allowed social media to control me and steal away precious time from my loved ones, but when I prioritized my relationship with God, I started to become more repulsed by my use of it. Eventually, I removed my content and deleted the apps from my phone.

This doesn’t mean I’ll never use it again, as social media does have value when used appropriately and in moderation. However, despite the fact I’m currently enjoying the detox, I may have a purpose for it in the future.

“Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — His good, pleasing and perfect will.” — Romans 12:2

3. Dating

Meeting people organically gets harder with age, especially Christians of the opposite sex. Most churches already consist of happily married families or the elderly. Finding singles of my age group in church was like looking for a needle in a haystack. When I learned that a few of the Christian couples I knew had met via dating apps, I decided to give it a go myself.

So I did, and I hated it. Over the course of a year, I had physically met six Christian men. Three of them had serious red flags and the other three just weren’t what I was looking for. I did give those three more than one date, in fact, I tried so hard to like one guy but after date six I knew it wasn’t going to happen. They were all nice enough, but not for me.

Using dating apps is tedious, nauseating, time-consuming, and boring. After being invited on 4 dates within 2 days, and feeling not one ounce of excitement over any of them, I declined all 4 and deleted the app. I knew at that moment that it wasn’t how I wanted to meet someone. I also had a university assignment due in the following week, and when the idea of writing that gave me more enjoyment over a date, I knew it was time to stop looking and just get on with my life.

I discovered that I was never actually looking for a person, instead, I was searching for the feeling it would give me, knowing that I had someone to love me. With that thought came the realization that I already am loved, by my son, my parents, my siblings, my niece, grandparents, friends, etc., but the greatest of all is the love I have from Jesus. For now, that’s more than enough, and anything that comes my way in the future is a bonus.

“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” — Matthew 6:33

Thank you for reading!

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