Resolutions to Habits

We are now well into 2015, a time when we try to get beyond New Year's resolutions to actually making habits stick. When I finished the Christmas holidays, my weight was well beyond my comfort level and I could feel myself slipping more and more into bad eating habits. As it turns out, I started reading The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. Once I started, I could not put the book down. It is an easy read and one that reminds us that there is a pattern to forming good habits.


Without spoiling the premise of the book, you can summarize it by saying that every habit is described by three components, Cue, Routine, and Reward. A habit has to have a cue, something that signals you to the habit. We don't think about brushing our teeth, we just do it. Then there is the routine, the actual thing we do. Finally, the reward - something that is in the end that reinforces the behavior. During the winter, I am always hit or miss on my working out so I decided I would simply do the same minimalist exercise every morning so I could assure myself some exercise. I sit on my butt most days so this is what I need to do every morning. My cue is my alarm clock, my reward is a breakfast.

I have also applied it to scripture memory. I have always been big on scripture memory, but I haven't had the discipline to do it consistently. I found a program Scripture Memory Typer that prompts me (Cue) each day to review the verses I have committed. It also appeals to my competitiveness because it ranks participants and also gives you little badges and points(reward). I have set a goal of cumulatively memorizing 1000 verses of scripture. I strongly believe that holding scripture close to my heart is a critical discipline (Psalm 119:11).

Finally, a friend told me about a concept called Journibles, the 17:18 series. In this, you actually write out the scriptures longhand and then write your notes and observations about the verse. I am a lousy journal writer. I have tried several times and quit. This however, I can sustain because I actually have something to write on or comment on. I am currently starting in the Book of James, one of my favorite books of the Bible.

Our Lord did not read The Power of Habit, but He built in disciplines that were consistent. In Luke 22:39, it tells us that going to pray was His custom. Luke 5:16 so he would often withdraw to pray. Paul rejoices in the Colossae believers their faith and discipline (Col 2:5). But doing so should not be motivated by checking the box, but by genuine desire for growth. It is the key to staying power and moving from resolutions to habits.