Paul wrote that he was to labor working with his own hands that which is good that he might share with the one who has a need. So this one was to do the opposite of what he had once done. He was to give instead of steal because now he was working. Scripture memory is a tool for dealing with bad habits. Often temptations come to the believer when he or she is far from church or a Bible.
Temptations come at inopportune times for that is why they are effective.
Our thinking, attitudes, and values are not to be that of the world. This transformation is a daily process. If one stops meditating on God s Word then one will go fall down as one does when riding a bicycle. Accountability with another Christian or Christians can be a resource in overcoming habits. When the believer is accountable to a Sunday school class, or a Bible study, or to a one on one relationship in discipleship, then the process of admonition or encouragement finds an environment that it can flourish in.