Every Sunday, thousands of people flock to Saddleback Church in Southern California to hear sermons by Pastor Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, the bestselling nonfiction hardback book in publishing history.
Now, Warren teams up with Oprah Winfrey to dispense life lessons during a taping of "Oprah’s Lifeclass" at Houston’s Hobby Center.
If you’re trying to quit smoking, stop drinking or kick any bad habit in the new year, Warren offers advice you don’t normally hear from a pastor: Give in to temptation.
“The key to changing a habit is not to resist it, but to replace it," he says in this clip. "Not to resist, but refocus. If a guy’s having problems with pornography and he’s watching TV, he doesn't just say, ‘No, I don’t want this, I don’t want this.’ He just flips the channel. The moment you change the channel, the temptation loses its power on you. Listen, here’s a pastor telling you this: Do not resist temptation.”
“Do not resist temptation? Says the pastor?” Oprah asks.
“Let me tell you why," says Warren. "What you resist persists because the whole time you’re focused on it. What you need to do is just change your focus. This is taking your conscious and saying, ‘I’m going to renew my mind. I’m going to think on these things. What sort of things are pure and lovely and of good report? I’m going to think about good things.'"
See the full episode of "Oprah's Lifeclass" Sunday, Jan. 13, at 9 p.m. ET on OWN.