Develop Great Habits, Part 1

Great Christians develop great habits.

Ted Pollock, is an expert in time management and behavior psychology. And he says, “Deliberately training yourself into good habits requires stern self-discipline at first. But since those habits become second nature, the payoff is considerable. Good habits save effort, ease routine, increase efficiency, and release power.”

You are, today, the total of your good habits, and your bad habits. And who you will become, the product of the kind of man, the kind of woman you’re going to be, five years, ten years, twenty years from now, by and large, will be the habits.

And the habits are the things you do without thinking. God has made us this way. I didn’t, this morning go, Okay, brushing your teeth – this is a tough one. Let’s see, I think I raise my lips, and then I – remember when you first started doing it? Remember a five-year-old learning to tie his shoe? What if you had to think that hard every time? See, habits are the ability to take complex functions, simplify them, and, over multiple repetitions, do them automatically, or without thinking.

When you first learned to drive, remember how your forearms would be all tight, and, How do you look at all these mirrors at the same time? Now you’re on the cell phone, you have a cup of coffee, driving, switching lanes, and disciplining the kid in the back seat. All of us have had the experience where you arrive in your driveway – right? – and you realize, I don’t remember driving home. That’s scary, of course. But see, you habitually can do a number of things.

But what I want you to know is, you can habitually learn to be kind. You can habitually learn to think great thoughts. You can habitually learn to pursue great people. You can habitually learn to empower great people. You can habitually learn to take great risks. But you have to cultivate habits, cultivate a lifestyle where that can occur.

If you think I’m just turning to psychology now, instead of Scripture, open your Bible, if you will, to 1 Timothy chapter 4, and the apostle Paul will talk about the power – he uses a different word – but the power of habits.

1 Timothy chapter 4 – and notice, this is the older apostle talking to the young pastor. And he wants the young pastor to be successful. So, he talks, in the first chapter, about, “Don’t be afraid,” and, “God hasn’t given us a spirit of timidity.” And he wants to reawaken his spiritual gift, and he talks about leadership. And then, in chapter 4, verse 7, he says, “Have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.”

The word discipline also is translated, practice, go into training. It’s a word that we get our English word gymnasium. “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds a promise not only for the present life, but also for the life to come.” He says, “Timothy, just like you see an athlete go into training, and practice, and develop the habit of running, or lifting weights, or getting stronger, you need to practice, or develop, the habits of becoming a godly person.”

Skip over to Hebrews, if you will, Hebrews chapter 5, picking it up at verse 11. Very, very interesting concept. This is a group of people that are fading in their walk with the Lord. Persecution is coming, and they’re shrinking back from their commitment. And the writer here is talking about the supremacy of Christ over everything.

And now, he reproves them in chapter 5, beginning at verse 11. He says, “Concerning him we have much to say.” He’s talking about Melchizedek, and this high priestly order. “And it’s hard to explain it, since you’ve become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have need for milk and not solid food.” So, basically, “You ought to be teachers by now. You ought to be mature by now. You ought to be reproducing, empowering, great people by now. We can’t talk to you like that. You’re a spiritual baby.”

“For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” There’s our word – “because of practice have their senses trained.” Over a period of time, people who are mature have gone into a habitual practice so that their lives are righteous. Their senses have been trained in such a way that they know good from evil.

So, let’s develop great habits. Here we go. How do you do it? Six habits that cultivate grace. Would you jot Titus 2:11 and 12. There’s a danger here, so let me tell you, a big danger. I’m going to give you very practical habits that you cultivate. And when you cultivate them, if you cultivate these, you will end up getting all nine practices as a part of your everyday life.

But if you’re not careful, you’ll think it’s about trying hard, and working hard, and, I’m going to do this habit. And then, when I do it, I’m going to be holy. And unconsciously, I’m going to earn and work my way toward God. That’s bad. That’s wrong. And it never works.

Titus 2:11 says, “It is the grace of God that brought us” – or led us – “to salvation, that teaches us to say ‘no’ to worldliness and all ungodliness, and ‘yes’ to upright, righteous, living.” It’s the grace of God. We think grace is over here, and effort is over here. Wrong. Grace is over here, and merit is over here.

The antithesis of grace is not, you don’t try. It’s that you don’t gain brownie points. You see, it takes great effort – the grace of God is both the desire and the ability to be righteous, to follow Him, and do what’s right.

And so, you notice I said, “Six habits that cultivate grace.” These aren’t six habits to be a Christian self-help expert. Six habits so that you experience God, realize your dependency. And these habits, think of them as a big white PVC pipe that connects into your heart. And that PVC pipe goes all the way to heaven. And you cultivate these habits so God can give you unmerited grace and favor and pour grace into your heart and to your mind, so, by His power and His grace, you become more and more like Christ. So, get that down.

With that, then, let’s go to habit number one. Habit number one: Put God first. Put God first. Develop the habit of giving God the very first portion, and the best part, of your day. It is the principle of priority. It says, “But seek first His kingdom” – command – “and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you,” Matthew 6:33.

And I want to give you a visual for each one. What I would say to you, habit number one, now, good Christians can meet with God any time they want. They meet with Him now and then, often in the morning. If not, they catch Him at lunch. A little bit of time when they’re a little tired, and snoozing, and fall asleep now and then with their prayers. But they are in the Bible, and they’re praying, and they meet with God on a semi-regular basis. They’re good Christians.

Great Christians meet with God first. Great Christians meet with God first. David hungers and thirsts for the dawn. When Abraham was going to offer Isaac, it says, “And he arose early.” You go through the Scriptures. You study the life of great men and great women. You do psychological studies on when people are most consistent working out. You do the thing that matters most, first.

So, what I would say is, buy an alarm clock. Buy an alarm clock without a snooze button. Okay? It’s mind over mattress. We’re talking about a habit. All right? You need to win the very first battle of the day. Buy an alarm clock without a snooze button. Put God first.

What’s it say the promise is? Seek first His kingdom, His rule, His ownership over your life, His righteousness – “I want to be like You.” And what’s the promise? Everything else you need in your life, He’ll take care of.

It has been the most powerful habit that has shaped my life. And I will tell you, not out of self-discipline. It’s like getting to go on a date with your wife, or going to a great restaurant, or doing something that you love to do. The habit has been meeting at least an hour or so with God, talking to Him, listening to Him, jotting a few things in my journal, reading through the Bible, year after year, studying some things, hearing His voice, sharing my needs, opening up on my frustrations.

And I’m going to tell you, it has been, fundamentally, the most powerful change agent in my world. It’s during that time that I read great books. It’s during that time that I pray great prayers. It’s during that time that God brings great thoughts. It’s during that time that He moves me to pursue great people. It’s during that time that I’m actually pursuing great people right out of His Word. Put God first – habit number one. Great Christians develop the habit of putting God first.

Habit number two is, take out the trash. Are you ready? You’ve got to do that periodically. You’ve got to take out the trash. It’s the principle of transformation. The first is the principle of priority. Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Now, look at that verse carefully. There’s a negative command. Literally, Greek, “Stop being conformed to this world,” or molded. Stop allowing the world’s system, the world’s ideas, the world’s images, and the world’s values to mold you.

Positive command: Start – literally, it’s in the passive tense – allowing God’s Word to renew and transform. Metamorphosize – remember the transfiguration? And Jesus, and it says He was transfigured? That’s the word. Allow, by the renewing of your mind, you to be transformed, from the inside out – is it a bad thing? – what? So, that you can be a person who tests, or approves, or experiences the will of God, and your actual lifestyle begins to demonstrate what God’s will is, that which is good, acceptable, and perfect.

We pastored in a tiny, tiny town in Texas, great, great experience. And a guy came to church, and he looked like, boy, he had been through it. His shirt was all dirty, and it looked like he hadn’t had a bath in about six or eight months, and he needed some food.

And I gave him some food. And then, next week, he needed some food. And he brought his wife, and she looked in the same kind of situation.

So, he said, “We really need some money for electricity and some other things.” And I had this little fund that I could help people with. So, I said, “Let me come out and visit you.” And I said, “Theresa, would you mind going with me?”

So, we get in the car, and we drive out to the country. And we come to this place, and, actually, it doesn’t look too bad at all. And there are a couple horses out there. And we pull in – there are about five or six dogs that bark all around us. And then, we go inside, and – this is no exaggeration.

First, the stench – I almost threw up. It just smelled so badly. And I thought, What could that be? And I looked, and there was garbage on the floor. There were two opened cans of cat food. There was something opened that was spoiled. I counted nineteen cats. I counted nineteen cats, just in the kitchen and this area. All the shades are down; it’s dark. And the real older lady is sitting over in the corner. And he’s sitting in front of me. He said, “Yeah, we need some money.”

And I sat there, and I thought. Let me see, your horses are eating okay. You’ve got at least five dogs that look fairly healthy. These nineteen cats are okay. What part of this don’t you get, man? You need food, and this is God’s money; this isn’t my money. I want to help you but…

And what I realized was, when you live in trash, you get so accustomed to the trash, you think it’s normal. The stench and the smell were nauseating. But if you hang around stench and smell long enough, you know what? You think it smells normal. And many, many a Christian has their mind so filled with the junkyard of this world, their lives never change, and they can’t figure out why. Because what God calls “trash,” what God calls “unholy,” what God says is unrighteous, what God says will take you down a bad path and ruin relationships has become very acceptable to many, many Christians. And what we do when we’re trying to figure out, Well, what’s true, and what’s right, and what we ought to do…?

God says, It’s very, very easy. I’ll tell you what. I’ve put My Spirit within you, and if you don’t quench it. And I’ve given you a conscious. And I’ll tell you what, you just read through here, and I’ll give you a clear line.

But what we tend to do is find who we think is a Christian, that either we sort of respect, or maybe is not doing quite so well, and – Well, they watch that, or, They read that, or They do that. Well, I guess it must be okay. And we’re on this great journey of, how do we dumb one another down, how do we dumb one another down?

And that’s why, when you read those many, many statistics by Barna, and by Gallup – Christians, especially in America – our morality, our honesty, our marriages, our fidelity, our time on internet porn sites is not really a nickel’s worth of difference than the average unbeliever. And you know why? Because, unconsciously, we’re being conformed to this world, and not transformed.

And I just learned, you have to develop the habit. And the habit is, what am I viewing? What am I reading? What relationships am I involved in? What people do I hang around? What books, and romance novels, and soap operas, and primetime TV – what are the things that I’m putting in my mind? What advertisements? Where do I go when I have free time? Where does my mind gravitate to? What thoughts, that are impure, am I allowing to live there, and build a nest in my heart and my mind?

At some point in time, you get away. What I usually have to do is, I have to do a media fast. The only way, because what happens is – it’s like the frog in the proverbial water. And you heat up the stove gradually – that frog will stay right there and burn to death. And what I’ve found is, the world’s system is so seductive. I just have to stop and say, for the next three days, or seven days, or ten days, I’m not going to listen to the radio. I’m not going to watch any TV. If there’s a crisis, obviously, I can turn it on, and figure out what’s going on.

And what it does is, ten days later, I’ll watch a TV show, and then I’ll just say, “My lands, I can’t believe how that girl is dressed.” And, “Look what they’re trying to do. They’re making me believe that if I drink that beer, or have that thing, that beautiful blondes are going to jump in the back, and I’m going to be…” Lie, lie, lie, lie. And then, you watch one of these reality shows, and you just begin to see, What in the world am I putting in my mind? You will be a product, all change begins with your thinking. All change begins with your thinking.

And so, people who are great Christians understand the principle of transformation, and they periodically stop. It’s not like you’re not going to get trash in your life. We all do. And they take out the trash. And the question I’d ask for you: What trash is in your life? What thoughts? What habits? What do you put in your mind? What do you mull over? That if Jesus was inside your mind, as He is, and you were just having a conversation – you said, Lord, so, what do You think about the stuff going in my mind? Which ones do you know, without even thinking, He’d say, I’m not real comfortable here?

It doesn’t mean He doesn’t love you. It doesn’t mean He’s down on you. What was the whole point of the passage? That you might prove, that you could test, that you could experience God’s will, that which is good, acceptable, and perfect.

Number three, these habits, and by the way, when you take out the trash, what do you do? You think great thoughts. You take out the trash, you pursue great people, because you want to rub up against people who think in a way, and who are going to mold you and transform you in different ways.

Third is, do your own dishes. Do your own dishes – the principle of responsibility. Take responsibility for yourself, your messes, your life, your future. Stop blaming other people and stop making excuses. It’s a habit. Okay?

Relax, I’m not down on you. People – we just learn. This happened – “Well it was my parents’ fault.” “It was the educational system’s fault.” “It was my kids’ fault.” It was the government’s fault.” “Well, I wanted to do that, but the light turned red.” “I really wanted, and I wanted, and God, I’m really sorry, but…” And we have people who have developed the habit, unconsciously, with God, and in every relationship, to either blame something, or someone else, or make an excuse. When you blame someone else, you don’t change. And when you make an excuse, you don’t change. Just do your own dishes.