2020 Spiritual Wellness Month---“Pull Them While They Are Young”
An elderly teacher, with a pupil by his side, took a walk through a forest. Suddenly he stopped and pointed to four plants close at hand. The first was just beginning to peep above the ground, the second had rooted itself pretty well into the earth, the third was a small shrub, while the fourth was a full-sized tree. The tutor said to his young companion, “Pull up the first plant.” The boy did so eagerly, using only his fingers. “Now pull up the second.” The youth obeyed but found the task more difficult. “Do the same with the third,” he urged. The boy had to use all his strength to uproot it. “Now,” said the instructor, “try your hand with the fourth.” The pupil put his arms around the trunk of the tall tree and couldn't even shake its leaves. “This, my son, is just what happens with our bad habits. When they are young, we can remove them readily; but when they are old, it's hard to uproot them, though we pray and struggle ever so sincerely."
Someone said, “Bad habits are like comfortable beds: easy to get into, but hard to get out of.” Another writer wrote, “Habits have a tendency to take our life in directions we would never have chosen.” Not all habits are bad. Some habits are essential.
In his book entitled, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters, N. T. Wright (2010) correctly pointed out that Christian character does not “come about automatically…. [It] has to be developed” (p. 128). How does one develop Christian character? According to Wright, a person must have the “right goal,” the correct “steps” for reaching the desired goal, and “those steps” must translate into “habitual behavior” that is “second nature” (p. 129). Thus, developing Christian character requires the formation of “holy habits” (p. 93) that are not self-produced (p. 137), but are shaped as one cooperates with the work of God in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:19; Eph. 2:10) to produce a life that no man can produce in his own power (Is. 64:6; Rom. 6:23). What is the ultimate goal of using ‘holy habits’ for the shaping of one’s character? Wright argued, “God is the goal” (p. 139). We are responsible for “making choices in the present” that will help us to “reflect the divine image” of God more fully and completely (p. 139). When we develop ‘holy habits’ we can give God the glory He deserves (Ps. 115:1; 1 Cor. 10:31, Col. 3:17).
New Life In Christ Principles, Scriptures, and Daily Tasks
Holy Habits Require A Renovation of the Mind.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2, emphasis added).Holy Habits Require Seeing God as the Goal of New Habits.
“When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28).Holy Habits Require Living in Anticipation for the Final Change.
“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).
Holy Habits Require Hope, Communal Attachment, and Participation
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Heb. 10:23-25).Holy Habits Require Cleaning One’s Inner Voice (Conscience)
“how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Heb. 9:14).
Task #1: Know the right goal for character development (holy habits).
Task #2: Understand that God has the right steps for character development.
Task #3: Live by developing (practicing) holy habits for Christian character.