New Year’s resolution? I have been thinking what to look forward to this year. I had been writing about New Year’s resolutions and goals for the past years. But I realized that those things never meant to last as there are ungodly habits hanging around. Many of those resolutions were just good during the first quarter of the year. So, this time, I would like us to focus on developing godly habits this 2022.
Last year was full of slacking off and idleness. Yes, I was working in the ministry, but I did not think that I had a productive year. I had wasted so much time doing nothing but the ministry work. My time was not dedicated to developing many godly habits. This time around, I want to maximize it by reaching more people for Christ. Still, pandemic is lingering. Yet it is not an excuse for us to slack off or to be idle.
If you have found yourself in this limbo, let’s take time to evaluate ourselves and start taking actions. Realize the things that we need to forsake in order for us to have a productive year with God. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:25 “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.” Mastery takes training ourselves to be temperate. He further added, ‘’But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.’’ Discipline is the key to be temperate in all things. According to study, it takes 2 moths to create a habit. That’s like 60 days. And when these activities become a habit, it takes discipline to make it last.
Ungodly habits like spending too much time in social media, YouTube, and other unnecessary readings can take so much of our time instead of doing a more productive one. These ungodly habits can be overcome by replacing them with godly habits. This is the “put off, put on” principle. We need to put off those ungodly habits and start putting on those godly habits in our daily routine.
It is important to take note that we have to be aware of our bad habits in order for them to be replaced. In this way, we will not waste our time formulating new good and godly habits with bad habits alongside. Our goal is to replace these ungodly habits with godly ones.
Here are some godly habits that we can develop this year 2022.
- Prayer. This is one of the best godly habits that we can develop as we journey this year. I know many of us do pray. But we pray only when it is needed or maybe we pray during our devotion. And after that, we already forget God the whole day. The habit of prayer is communicating with God all through out the day either we have to pray seriously or just utter a word of prayer at 10:00 am or 12nn. I am not saying that praying during our devotion is wrong. What I am telling is that make it a habit to pray – before we eat, before we do things, whenever we have a hard time making decisions, whenever we are tempted to be angry and frustrated, and as much as we can, it is good to pray. That’s how we involve God in our daily life. This is one thing that God has been teaching me, too. That prayer is the most important part of our day. I tend to forget sometimes. I had this recent experience at home about the importance of uttering thankfulness to God even in simple ways. It was snack time and I just had mine. When I entered the kitchen, I saw my father praying for the bread that he was about to eat. I was taken aback because I forgot to pray for the snack that I ate. And I felt ashamed.
Those simple things that we have to be mindful, sometimes we forget. It’s like praying. It’s simple but we tend to take it for granted. That’s why we have to develop this habit and include it in our daily lives.
2. Get to know God more through:
Reading His Word. We have to know what’s written on His Word. Reading His Word is like reading a story about God and His Wonders. Bible for a year plan is a good way to finish the entire Bible for the whole year. I must admit it. I have been a Christian for more than a decade but I just read the entire Bible once. Yet I have read so many books.
Studying the Scripture. Reading is different from studying. Studying is in-depth digging into the Word of God. It is letting God speak to us through studying His Word. It is a good habit to study. It could be daily, thrice a week, or twice, depending on your availability. Studying His Word takes time.
Obeying His Will. The purpose of praying, reading, and studying His Word is for us to know His Will and eventually, obey His will in our lives.
3. Acquire or master one skill for the ministry or church welfare. There are so many skills that we can develop this year. Cooking, baking, writing, learning or proving our English proficiency, speaking, etc. We can acquire and master at least one for yourself and for the benefit of the ministry. When acquiring a skill, let’s include the ministry and church. Maybe we can be a great help in some ministries that God will lead us to.
4. Share the Gospel. This is vital in our Christian journey. Sharing the Gospel now becomes easier because of social media.Let’s take advantage of it by using it to further the Kingdom and share the Gospel to as many as we can. Sharing it directly to friends, colleagues, loved ones, and relatives can make a difference. We can also visit people and intentionally share the Gospel. A great habit indeed!
5. Have a healthy lifestyle. This is one of the habits that I want to develop. Does having a healthy lifestyle a godly habit? On its surface, it looks like there is no relation between them. But if you dig deeper, it is. Having a healthy lifestyle will give you a healthy body to serve the Lord. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 reminds us that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. It means to say that we must take good care of it by eating healthy, exercising, and resting well. If we are healthy, we can serve God at our best. If we are sickly, it is harder to do His Work. I have been to that. I used to be so invincible. But I abused my strength thinking that I would not be worn out. So, we have to balance what we do. Just don’t forget that God is able to sustain us, but we use our strength wisely.
We can also read encouraging Christian books and listen to Christian music that can uplift our souls and boost our spiritual life.
These are just some. You can think as many as you can that will help you grow and use your time wisely. Redeeming the time for the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16).
Remember, either we eat or drink, we do it for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
What godly habits can you think of? Please share.
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