By Ron Price
Aristotle was one smart dude. One of his most famous quotes is, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then is not an act, but a habit.” In more modern times, Steven Covey became famous for his Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Though each of these gentlemen wrote from a secular perspective, I believe we Christians can still learn from what they had to say. Forming beneficial habits requires some degree of discipline in the near term, but the long-range payoff is outstanding.
Sometime back, I began to wonder what the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Christians might be. I’ll give you my version here but invite you to come up with your own.
Habit one: Go through life with a positive outlook.
Yes, I realize this world can be a dark place and that we all experience negative and hurtful events at times. But, as followers of Jesus Christ, we have every right, and I might say “duty,” to be joyful and optimistic about how all things will turn out. In 1 Peter 1:6 we read, “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.” So rather than overdosing on the nightly news, why not do as Paul counsels in Phil. 4:8 and, “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
Habit two: Live each day with an active faith.
I firmly believe that God is real, and that Jesus Christ is exactly Who He claimed to be. I accept the Bible as my true roadmap through life. That being said, what excuse do I have for not living out what I believe on a regular basis? To do so, I must be careful about the thoughts I allow to fester in my mind and “take them captive to the mind of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5), and I must go through life each day armed with the full armor of God (see Ephesians 6: 10-18).
Habit three: Know, understand and apply Biblical instruction. One of my favorites texts is Romans 12:1,2, where we are admonished to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” I like to think of the Bible as The Owner’s Manual for Life. While I do not consult my vehicle owner’s manual as often as I should, the negative consequences of not applying Bible lessons to life are far more consequential.
Habit four: Pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17).
At first glance this might seem to be a humanly impossible objective. It would be difficult, to say the least, to go through our daily regimens with our eyes closed and on bended knee. But I don’t think that’s what we are being told to do. Rather, we are to be in a continual attitude of prayer and connection with our Heavenly Father. Our prayer life should be more than just prayer at meal times and upon awakening or going to bed. While I believe it is beneficial to have specific times to spend with God in purposeful prayer, I also believe we can, and should, be in continual communion with Him throughout the day, seeking His wisdom, guidance, and marching orders.
Habit five: Be loving and others centered. Christ gave us His life; we are to give Him ours. Perhaps the best way we can serve God is to serve His children who live among us. As the old Pathfinder song goes, “We are His Hands . . .” If we focus only on ourselves, we will, among all people, be the most miserable. As we focus on being vessels for Him to fill with His love, grace, mercy, etc., to overflow to others, we will indeed find true joy in life.
Habit six: Be active in fellowship. The writer of Hebrews instructs us to “. . . not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near” (10:25). I believe this means more than just regular church attendance each Sabbath. We, as followers of and believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, are to truly care for one another as a ministering body and church family.
Habit seven: Be rooted and grounded in your true identity. Having been saved by the shed blood of Jesus and by accepting His death and resurrection as our own, we are entitled to live as victors. We may know the Truth and the Truth will set us free (John 8:32). We need not grovel as low-life and worthless sinners, but we may claim, and rejoice in, our identity as saints whose citizenship is already in Heaven (see Col. 3:1-4).
In conclusion, I again challenge you to come up with your own personal list of seven habits that you believe God would want you to live out on a regular basis. As you seek to form and implement those habits, please be sure to remember that love and the Holy Spirit must be your driving forces, or all your efforts will prove futile.
–Ron Price is a member of the RMC executive committee from Farmington, New Mexico. Email him at: [email protected]