Who would you like to be?

That’s a powerful question and one that warrants answering. Some of us would like to be stronger, smarter, or healthier. Others would like to have a different career, income source, or life experiences.

There is something more foundational than answering the question, “Who would you like to be?” The more foundational question is “Who are you?” The identity value and gospel value precede this value intentionally.

We are God’s image bearers who have broken his law and become sinners. Our deepest need is not merely a change of practices but a change of heart. When we’re made a new creation through the gospel, we’re ready to live in our new identity by putting on Christ. Paul described this reality in his second letter to the Corinthians:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

2 Corinthians 5:17

We are ready to live as new creatures when we put on Christ. Again, Paul is helpful when he wrote to the Ephesian church:

²⁰ But that is not the way you learned Christ!— ²¹ assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, ²² to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,²³ and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 4:20-24

Living as new creatures means putting on the new self through habits of holiness and righteousness. The Habit Value is important in following Jesus because our habits will develop our character and conduct.

The Responsibility Motto: We are our habits and our habits follow our thoughts. 

Two quotes help us make sense of how our habits and practices develop and deepen our walk with Christ.

My central aim is that we can become like Christ by doing one thing—by following him in the overall style of life he chose for himself. If we have faith in Christ, we must believe that he knew how to live. We can, through faith and grace, become like Christ by practicing the types of activities he engaged in, by arranging our whole lives around the activities he himself practiced in order to remain constantly at home in the fellowship of his Father.

Dallas Willard, Spirit of the Disciplines

The practices, disciplines, and habits of the Christian faith are not an end in themselves. They serve to help us live as Jesus lived following his way of life.

While Jesus’ life is the model, practicing is our responsibility:

The question of forming habits on the basis of the grace of God is a very vital one. To ignore it is to fall into the snare of the Pharisee—the grace of God is praised, Jesus Christ is praised, Redemption is praised, but the practical everyday life evades working it out. If we refuse to practice, it is not God’s grace that fails when a crisis comes but our own nature. When the crisis comes, we ask God to help us, but he cannot if we have not made nature our ally. The practicing is ours, not God’s. God regenerates us and puts us in contact with all His divine resources, but He cannot make us walk according to his will.

Oswald Chambers  

It is in our practices, habits if you will, where the Holy Spirit intersects with us in order to transform us. We will never be remade into the image and character of Christ without the participation of our habits.

Meditation Takeaways:

• Make a list of habits to add or enhance your walk with Christ. Begin with three habits that you can do successfully: 1) Wake up at _____ A.M. and read the Bible. 2) Keep a prayer journal. 3) Fast and pray during one meal time a week. These are just ideas. You should give time and thought to what habits/practices will be most beneficial for you.
• Consider prayerfully changing/deleting some bad habits from your life such as media and screen time and/or eating/exercise habits.
• Choose a time and place for embedding those habits into your schedule. Put it on your calendar or in your journal.
• Commit to them for 21 days. After 21 days, most habits are embedded into your life.
• For deeper reflection, read The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard.

Photo by Nathan Lemon on Unsplash