A Greater Love Pushes Out the Lesser
“Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”Psalm 37:4 (KJV)
Most of us fight bad habits by sheer force. I will stop scrolling. I will stop snacking. I will stop. It works for a few days, and then we are back where we started by the next week.
A Scottish preacher named Thomas Chalmers had a famous phrase for why that happens: the expulsive power of a new affection. You can’t empty the heart by pushing things out. You can only fill it with something you love more, and the lesser love gets crowded out.
Scripture points the same way. “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” And John warns, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.” The answer to a wrong love isn’t no love. It is a greater one.
So instead of only fighting the habit, feed the greater love. Spend time with God that you actually enjoy. Read slowly. Pray honestly. Let delight do what willpower couldn’t.
Read it yourself
Read Psalm 37:1–7. List the things David tells us to do instead of fretting.
What habit have you been fighting with willpower alone? What would it look like to delight in God in that space instead?
Lord, I want to love you more than the things that pull at me. Fill my heart with you until there is no room for the rest. Amen.