HABITS

And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus – 2 Timothy 3:15

Attitudes are HABITS – habits of thoughts and behaviour. A habit is an aptitude or attitude acquired by practice. It is a consistent custom, manner, pattern or way of life. Habits are thoughts or actions that are engrained, and that have become natural through continued repetition. An attitude is thus a recurring way of thinking or doing things. Attitudes are our habitual thought-patterns or trend of thoughts. Proverbs 23:7a says, “for as he thinks in his heart, so is he…” This scripture expresses a universal principle: we translate into actions or physical reality the thought-patterns that we hold in our minds, no matter what they are. The principle works whether the attitudes are destructive as in Job’s life (Job 3:25) or constructive as in Jabez’ life (1Chr.4:9-10). Thoughts of sickness, poverty, defeat or death are realized as readily as thoughts of health, wealth, success, and life. Attitudes or habits are particularly important in these perilous times (2Tim.3:1-5).

There was a popular expression in the ancient world of the first Century: “If a Greek wanted to know what you thought, they simply asked you. If a Jew wanted to know what you thought, they followed you around for a week.” The import is that what you really believe is best expressed by how you behave: You behave like you believe! Stephen R. Covey wrote: “We are what we repeatedly do….Excellence, then, is not an act, but a HABIT.” It is also said that “Habit is a cable; we weave a thread a day, and at last we cannot break it.” Whereas motivation gets you started; habit gets you going! Attitudes, being habits, can be acquired via discipline and cultivated through consistency. You can alter your attitudes. You can choose how to regularly respond to situations. Benjamin Disraeli said: “Nurture your minds with great thoughts; for you will never go any higher than you think.” How true the words of Winston Churchill are: “The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.”

The Dynamics of Attitude are: thoughts lead to actions, which in turn become habits. This truth is amplified as follows: “Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a Destiny.” The question of habits is however two-directional: positive and negative. As possible as it is to cultivate habits, they are also hard to break, especially negative habits that have graduated into obsessions or rooted in spirits of addiction. Obsession refers to having a strong attachment to something, which dominates the entire being, keeping the person down and weak. A common but subtle form of obsession is the problem of evil thought patterns which could hinder a Christian from flowing in the Spirit and bearing spiritual fruit. In short, your habits of thought will substantially determine your future and quality of life.

What do you repeatedly think about? What are the patterns of thinking God expects of you as a Believer? Following the new birth experience, through practice and discipline in the Holy Spirit, you can cultivate godly habits that become a regular part of your life and eventually enable you to become more effective as a Christian in the service of the Lord, His church, and humanity. The good news is: You can change your habits. You can drop negative, corruptive, sinful habits and cultivate positive, constructive, Word-based ones. You can alter, adjust, renew or transform your attitudes. Paul commends Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:15 because his habits had been formed by the Scriptures from an early age (Pro.22:6). The knowledge of the Truth not only led him to salvation, but also into his vocation as missionary partner with Paul and as a model of effective Christianity for future generations. Cultivating daily habits takes time and effort but the rewards for doing so are far greater than we can imagine. Habits are truly life-changing!