Articles
Habits
My dictionary says a habit is “a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition . . . an acquired mode of behavior that has become completely or nearly involuntary.” A habit might be good, bad, or indifferent.
Most of us follow a routine for the day. We get up about the same time each day, then do, often in exactly the same sequence, what we must to get ready for the day: check our phones for news/messages, clean up, get dressed, eat breakfast, etc. Hopefully prayer is somewhere in the mix.
Driving to work is also habitual. We take the same route day after day. Driving itself perfectly illustrates how a thing done over and over gets to a point where it can be done without even thinking about it. It becomes “second nature” to us.
Good habits arise from self discipline and commitment. We make the choice to do what is right or good, then we abide by that decision whatever happens. It might be the choice to be honest, to be kind, or to be cheerful. It may be a commitment to refrain from buying what we cannot afford or to abstain from certain kinds of conduct. Job once said, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?” (Job 31:1).
Following this procedure, in time you can develop such good habits that the decision of what to do in a given situation becomes second nature—you would not think of doing anything else.
Unfortunately, bad habits are easier to develop. They do not require the commitment good ones do. They are frequently the result of laziness or selfishness. But make no mistake, we can be so accustomed to doing the wrong thing that it, too, becomes second nature. Profanity, outbursts of anger, lust, immodesty, and complaining are a few applications that come to mind. This is what Paul meant when he wrote, “We . . . were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest” (Ephesians 2:3). Centuries earlier Jeremiah asked, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good who are accustomed to doing evil” (Jeremiah 13:23).
One more thing. Jesus was in the habit of going to worship every week (Luke 4:16). Are you? I hope so. It is a good habit. Ironically, it is also an area in which we must be careful. The problem is, the sameness of worship activities week after week creates the possibility of somewhat thoughtless participation, what Isaiah 29:13 calls “tradition learned by rote.” We must guard against that. “Let us draw near with a sincere heart . . .” (Hebrews 10:22).
