I spend a lot of my time convincing people to develop good habits.
Simply put, I believe every Christian ought to develop some core habits. Every Christian should regularly read and meditate on Scripture. Every Christian should pray. Every Christian should actively participate within a local church. Every mature saint I’ve met has developed these three habits; every stalled believer I’ve met has stopped practicing one or more of these habits.
Life is complicated. We’re more than our habits, but not less. Even the best habit-keepers will still go through seasons of ups and downs. But still, these habits are essential. David Mathis is right:
Your perseverance, under God, is in your habits. Heaven and hell hangs on habits. Show me a man’s habits, and you’ll give me a glimpse into his very soul. The habits you develop and sustain today will affect whether you persevere till the end or make shipwreck of the faith.
Simply put, your habits are one of the most important things about you.
I encourage people to get to the point at which they have already decided they will get in the Word every day. Become the kind of person who has already decided that church trumps everything else. Make these key behaviours your default, and you will be tapping into God-ordained means of growth.
We need habits, but habits (like almost everything else) have a downside.
One of our greatest spiritual problems is habituation. Habituation is the state of becoming accustomed to something. Get a new job, and you will probably feel thrilled for a while, but then return to your baseline level of happiness. Get fired, and you will probably feel discouraged for a while, but then return to your baseline level of happiness. Habituation is a gift that allows us to adjust to the hardships of life, but it’s also a challenge when it dulls the joy of delights.
When we habituate to the gospel, we put our souls in danger.
Simply put, the challenge of the Christian life is to develop well-worn paths — ruts — along the God-ordained means of grace: Scripture, prayer, worship, fellowship, while maintaining our wonder at what God has done for us. Our challenge is to develop strong habits and at the same time to guard against becoming dulled to the news that’s meant to delight.
That’s why almost everyone agrees that daily Bible reading is essential, and it’s also why almost everyone agrees that it can easily become routine. It’s why every Christian I know agrees that prayer is important, but also find themselves struggling to pray. It’s why we so often see the ordinariness of the church even as we grasp its glory.
How do we develop habits without becoming dishabituated to the gospel?
The solution isn’t to give up on our habits. The solution is to, as we cultivate our habits, to stay alert to the danger of dullness. Pray along with Paul that the eyes of our hearts are enlightened, that we may know what is the hope to which he has called us, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe (Ephesians 1:18-19).
This is the tension of the Christian life: to develop habits without becoming habituated to the beauty and glory of the gospel. One day, in our glorified state, we won’t struggle with spiritual dullness; until then, we need habits without becoming habituated to the glories of the gospel.