Habits

What does the word "habits" bring to mind? I know that several (including myself) tend to initially associate "habits" with a negative connotation. In my life I have several habits. All are the cause of choice. Some are good, and some are...well...not so good. I even have habits with my personal time with God. I remember in college, my professors would always announce to us that the habits we develop during our time in college are the habits that we will face throughout our lives. And were they ever right. During my college days, I kept myself so busy with this and that that the last thing on my plate was my personal time with God. Now, I face a struggle of habit; saving my personal time with God for the last part of my day. However, I often find myself either skipping it because I'm too exhausted, or just going through the motions of spending time with God. Consequently I've decided that I must change my habit, and develop a new habit. The new habit is making God the first priority of my day. I know for many this is not revolutionary, but for me this is. For me to thrive with God, God must be first! Not only in words and certain aspects of my life, but in action and all aspects of my life. I'm so thankful that we " [...] continually work out our salvation [...]" (Phil. 2:12, NIV). For me, one area of focus is destroying a habit of giving God something other than first place, and instead developing a solid new habit of putting God first in my days.

For a great read on "habits," I'd like to recommend the book series "Habitudes: Images That Form Leadership Habits & Attitudes" by Dr. Tim Elmore.