Three Angels Broadcasting Network Devotional.
Habits
By Elena Varnavskaya
August 20th, 2026
“I will set nothing wicked before my eyes.” Psalm 101:3
How, Lord, in our age, is it possible to avoid looking at wicked things when we are assaulted on every side by TV screens, smartphones, and billboards showing images of scantily clad bodies advertising every conceivable product? What do we do with our eyes? Or our children and grandchildren’s eyes? How can we resist wasting precious time on things that don’t make us any better?
Recently, we bought our teenaged granddaughter a smartphone. She was very eager for it because all her peers have had one for a long time. Her mother had wisely delayed the purchase, knowing that her daughter seemed easily influenced by other people’s views; but it wasn’t long before the problems began.
At first, she stayed on the Internet for hours at a time and didn’t even notice it, so we limited her data usage to one hour a day. But this didn’t stop her, as she quickly caught on to using wi-fi signals. Then it wasn’t long before we got a pretty big shock when we checked her text messages and found some pretty vulgar language! We were horrified that, like a sponge, she seemed to absorb everything that was bad! And to make things worse, her sister, who is three years older, never developed these problems. What could we do? How could we teach our child to only look at things that would change her for the better? We took her phone away, but we all knew that this couldn’t solve the problem.
So what can we do to help our children? First, we must understand how we influence them—not only by our words, but by our actions. As one Russian proverb says, “Look at the habits of the parents and you’ll find that the children already have vices.” Only the Lord can help us be rid of our bad habits and acquire good ones in their place.
In his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul wrote, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2. As parents, we are responsible to God for our children; but before we can change them, we must change ourselves. We all have many more acquired and inherited habits than our children do, and only the Lord can miraculously change us into His image and likeness.
What hope can we give parents who see their bad habits replicated in their children and grandchildren? We can tell them to trust the Lord, and pray that the transforming power of the Holy Spirit that changed our lives will work on our children’s hearts, too.
God is too wise to fulfill our confused, darkened, and self-serving desires. But He will always fulfill the desires of our transformed, and enlightened hearts. What higher desires can we have than to love God and want communion with Him, to have His will be done in our life, and to have a deeper interaction with His people? Those whom God will take home with Him will want to do His will. They will walk in perfect freedom forever, for there will be nothing in their hearts to give up!
Habits
By Elena Varnavskaya
August 20th, 2026
“I will set nothing wicked before my eyes.” Psalm 101:3
How, Lord, in our age, is it possible to avoid looking at wicked things when we are assaulted on every side by TV screens, smartphones, and billboards showing images of scantily clad bodies advertising every conceivable product? What do we do with our eyes? Or our children and grandchildren’s eyes? How can we resist wasting precious time on things that don’t make us any better?
Recently, we bought our teenaged granddaughter a smartphone. She was very eager for it because all her peers have had one for a long time. Her mother had wisely delayed the purchase, knowing that her daughter seemed easily influenced by other people’s views; but it wasn’t long before the problems began.
At first, she stayed on the Internet for hours at a time and didn’t even notice it, so we limited her data usage to one hour a day. But this didn’t stop her, as she quickly caught on to using wi-fi signals. Then it wasn’t long before we got a pretty big shock when we checked her text messages and found some pretty vulgar language! We were horrified that, like a sponge, she seemed to absorb everything that was bad! And to make things worse, her sister, who is three years older, never developed these problems. What could we do? How could we teach our child to only look at things that would change her for the better? We took her phone away, but we all knew that this couldn’t solve the problem.
So what can we do to help our children? First, we must understand how we influence them—not only by our words, but by our actions. As one Russian proverb says, “Look at the habits of the parents and you’ll find that the children already have vices.” Only the Lord can help us be rid of our bad habits and acquire good ones in their place.
In his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul wrote, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2. As parents, we are responsible to God for our children; but before we can change them, we must change ourselves. We all have many more acquired and inherited habits than our children do, and only the Lord can miraculously change us into His image and likeness.
What hope can we give parents who see their bad habits replicated in their children and grandchildren? We can tell them to trust the Lord, and pray that the transforming power of the Holy Spirit that changed our lives will work on our children’s hearts, too.
God is too wise to fulfill our confused, darkened, and self-serving desires. But He will always fulfill the desires of our transformed, and enlightened hearts. What higher desires can we have than to love God and want communion with Him, to have His will be done in our life, and to have a deeper interaction with His people? Those whom God will take home with Him will want to do His will. They will walk in perfect freedom forever, for there will be nothing in their hearts to give up!
Three Angels Broadcasting Network Devotional.
Habits
By Elena Varnavskaya
August 20th, 2026
“I will set nothing wicked before my eyes.” Psalm 101:3
How, Lord, in our age, is it possible to avoid looking at wicked things when we are assaulted on every side by TV screens, smartphones, and billboards showing images of scantily clad bodies advertising every conceivable product? What do we do with our eyes? Or our children and grandchildren’s eyes? How can we resist wasting precious time on things that don’t make us any better?
Recently, we bought our teenaged granddaughter a smartphone. She was very eager for it because all her peers have had one for a long time. Her mother had wisely delayed the purchase, knowing that her daughter seemed easily influenced by other people’s views; but it wasn’t long before the problems began.
At first, she stayed on the Internet for hours at a time and didn’t even notice it, so we limited her data usage to one hour a day. But this didn’t stop her, as she quickly caught on to using wi-fi signals. Then it wasn’t long before we got a pretty big shock when we checked her text messages and found some pretty vulgar language! We were horrified that, like a sponge, she seemed to absorb everything that was bad! And to make things worse, her sister, who is three years older, never developed these problems. What could we do? How could we teach our child to only look at things that would change her for the better? We took her phone away, but we all knew that this couldn’t solve the problem.
So what can we do to help our children? First, we must understand how we influence them—not only by our words, but by our actions. As one Russian proverb says, “Look at the habits of the parents and you’ll find that the children already have vices.” Only the Lord can help us be rid of our bad habits and acquire good ones in their place.
In his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul wrote, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2. As parents, we are responsible to God for our children; but before we can change them, we must change ourselves. We all have many more acquired and inherited habits than our children do, and only the Lord can miraculously change us into His image and likeness.
What hope can we give parents who see their bad habits replicated in their children and grandchildren? We can tell them to trust the Lord, and pray that the transforming power of the Holy Spirit that changed our lives will work on our children’s hearts, too.
God is too wise to fulfill our confused, darkened, and self-serving desires. But He will always fulfill the desires of our transformed, and enlightened hearts. What higher desires can we have than to love God and want communion with Him, to have His will be done in our life, and to have a deeper interaction with His people? Those whom God will take home with Him will want to do His will. They will walk in perfect freedom forever, for there will be nothing in their hearts to give up!
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