A habit is the ordinary course of conduct; general tendency; disposition; and established customs. Words found in the Thesaurus include addiction, bent, fixation, frame of mind, inclination, manner, second nature, routine.

•  Some potential “downside” features of habits:

•  Provides predictable outcomes (keep doing the same thing – keep getting the same result)

•  Requires little effort (comes naturally and is easy)

•  Freedom from decision making (what’s to think about?)

•  The past determines the future (no surprises or change)

Environmentally acquired habits often look quite different from Godly habits.

Some of our habits are good and healthy, some of our habits are damaging and destructive, but I am impressed by the power of habits. I believe our countenance is a habit, our mood is a habit, our attitude is a habit, our manner of speaking to others is a habit, our anger is a habit, our interaction with our spouse is a habit, our rudeness is a habit, the nature of our thoughts is a habit, dwelling on negatives is a habit, our daily rituals are a habit and so on.

Have you considered establishing goals in terms of personal conduct? (Goals are generally accomplished by forming new habits.)

While this may seem an impertinent question, the root of it is that many of us function on the unconscious level of habits with no direct thought involved. However, our habits sometimes do not resonate our intention of being Godly women. As we mature in our walk with Father, are we reflecting more of His attributes? Perhaps something as simple as unchecked habits can interfere with our intention and we do not even see it.

Well, can we hear it instead? Perhaps at an appropriate time we could discuss our habits with our significant other or friend who sees our reflection better then we do. The perfecting of the saints is not accomplished in isolation. Are you game for having your “habits” looked at by another? (review above definition). Just as God is purposed, we can set our minds more clearly on our goal of righteousness as we watch out for the “pot holes of habits.”

Isa 14:24   Jehovah of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely, as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:

Rom 12:2   And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, and ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

“I coulda been a contender.”

“I coulda been somebody.”

If we demand the right to hold the outcome we’d wished for as the standard of comparison for the outcomes in which our present realities consist, we commit robbery.

There is no way to rightly appraise your current state when qualified or framed against an imaginary state.

Each of us has already been handed the biggest excuse or difficulty for not being all we could be. Adam. Yes, had it not been for our father, Adam, we wouldn’t have had to start at such a deficit. The fall puts you and me in the ultimate bad way.  Worse than unfulfilled dreams, broken relationships, failures large and small, horrible decisions and the rest of the sinful behaviors perpetrated by or against us.

“If Adam hadn’t screwed up so colossally, I coulda been somebody.”

But he did. And so did we. And so did everyone else. So we cried out to our only hope – our Savior, Jesus.

He gave us a new life. He gave us great gifts, and people, and graces. Such gifts have both sustained us and enabled us to sustain others. Beyond sustenance, He has blessed us without measure. There really is no end to the abundance of His goodness toward us.

Why do we continue to rob Him, and to steal from ourselves? That we stand in our current state is a miracle. Our present condition is only possible because of a thousand gifts, graces and favors from our Savior. If every such gift from our Father must be considered in light of some alternative imaginary possibility, our thanksgiving is restrained and our praise is measured. When we reserve a ‘right’ to give a nod and pay homage to our disappointments and our suffering. ‘You don’t know the pain I’ve been through,’ we rob our savior of His due. We steal from ourselves the wonder and joy of the grace in which we stand.

Can we release all that we wished would have happened but didn’t, for whatever reason? Can we not relinquish our right to some sort of reward for being truly hurt or mistreated? Can we let go of the need to understand how this could’ve happened, or how they could’ve done such a thing to us.

To give these matters over to the One who cares for us is very important. Worship and thank God for what He’s done just as He’s done it, in simplicity and wonder. It can open us to see and feel the full weight of the grace and redemptive investment given into us, and the especially magnificent gift of how we’ve been enabled to bless and give life to others.

Now we have sound reasons for trusting Him to do right by us; to continue to strengthen, heal and transform us.

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!   Romans 11:33                                              written by: Bob Weidman