After a painful failure or a motivating sermon, we often decide to change this or that. But most of the time it doesn’t last. Why do our bad habits come back?

Some people are trying to make changes in their lives, who are trying to do a “clean up” spiritually or morally. They know things aren’t the way they should be, and they want things to be right. But the irony is that some people, in their efforts to clean up their lives, end up worse off than when they started.

Jesus explained how we can make lasting changes in our lives by undertaking a major housecleaning. “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation” (Matthew 12:43-45 NKJV).

Jesus was referring to demonic powers in this passage. Demons are both real and powerful. In this passage, it appears that the person who was once possessed by this unclean spirit was doing housework. Things have, to a certain extent, been put in order. It appears that the person has made some sort of moral change.

To understand this in context, we must remember that Jesus was speaking here to the Pharisees, who were the religious, moral, and appeared to be honest people of the day. Jesus compared the human life and heart to a house. He said that morality will not save us. Religion will not save us.

Jesus gave us a picture of those who make moral changes in their lives, but fail to get to the root of their problem, which is the absence of God in their lives. The sins they commit are only symptoms of a deeper problem: the lack of Jesus Christ living in them.

People will change their lives for many reasons. Sometimes when they face a crisis, they begin to evaluate their priorities and take stock of their lives. They determine what needs to change. But often, it’s the same people who end up returning to their old ways. For what? Because the house is swept and put in order, but it is still empty.

We must not lose sight of the fundamental truth that morality, by itself, will not result in a good relationship with God. Morality will never bring spirituality. But true spirituality will always bring morality.