Power of Habits

The little things we do every day shape us more than we realize. You’ve probably had this realization if you’ve ever felt your phone vibrating in your pocket and attempted to grab it, only to find out that your phone actually was on your nightstand, kitchen counter, or somewhere else. The phenomenon of feeling your phone when it is actually not there is called experiencing a “phantom vibration,” and it demonstrates just how powerful a habitual behavior (like checking our phone dozens of times each day) can be.

The ability of our little habits can shape us in a major way isn’t all bad news. In fact, it means that every moment, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, is actually an opportunity for us to be shaped into the image of Christ.

Beholding the Glory of God

Here’s how the Apostle Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians 3:18: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

As it has been commonly said, we become what we behold. When we behold the glory of the Lord, we cannot help but be transformed, from one degree of glory to another. This verse is an explanation of what is commonly called “progressive sanctification,” the idea that over the course of our Christian lives, as we increasingly see the holiness of God, our sinfulness, and appreciate Christ’s finished work, we become more and more holy. To be holy is to be set apart for God’s exclusive use, walking in obedience to his will and living for the fame of his name. 

We all want to be the kind of people who behold the glory of the Lord on a regular basis, but we face challenges both externally from the world and internally in our own hearts. Externally, we live in a distracted age where the most common objects that we “behold” are our phones. Internally we have short attention spans and are increasingly weak when it comes to resisting the lure of social media, but God isn’t surprised by our weakness. 

In fact, we can boast in our weaknesses, because in our weaknesses point us to the all-sufficient strength of Jesus. Don’t wait until you feel strong to turn to Jesus for help, or you will never turn to him at all.

Planning to Behold

So how can we, in light of the external challenges we face and our internal weaknesses, behold the glory of the Lord so that we can be more and more transformed to the image of Jesus?

On a practical level, installing some rhythms of worship might be a good first step toward that end. It seems as if everyone, everywhere is tired of constantly making decisions. One benefit of Godly routines & rhythms is that you get the opportunity to pre-decide what you will do with a particular portion of your day, week, month, or year. 

Instead of having to decide, “what am I going to do when I wake up or before I go to sleep?” every single day, a morning routine could help you to pre-decide what you are going to do at that moment, freeing up your decision-making will for other instances later in the day. So what might these rhythms of worship look like?

A Weekly Rhythm

The first rhythm of worship you might consider installing as a rock in your calendar is the weekly Lord’s Day gathering. For thousands of years, God’s people have gathered to sing, hear Scripture read and taught, and receive the Lord’s Supper together. If you haven’t yet, make the decision that at 10AM on Sunday morning (or whenever it is that your church gathers), you will be there to behold the glory of the Lord and be transformed from one degree of glory to another. It has been said that “Sunday morning church is a Saturday evening decision,” and there is a great deal of truth in that. You also don’t have to wait until Saturday to decide that you will assemble with God’s people on Sunday, you can make that decision right now. Even if the only rhythm of worship you installed into your life was the rhythm of gathering with God’s people for corporate worship on Sunday mornings, your life could be drastically altered. No matter how your week goes, there is always a Sunday morning coming up to encourage you. In addition to a weekly rhythm of worship, we can also benefit from some daily rhythms of worship.

A Daily Rhythm

Daily rhythms of worship help us to pre-decide what we are going to do with the beginning, middle, and end of our days so that we can use them intentionally to behold the glory of the Lord and be transformed from one degree of glory to another. For example, you might decide that you will not use your phone as an alarm clock so that you can commit to reading your Bible before picking up your phone each morning. 

A Yearly Rhythm

Finally, a third kind of rhythm you might consider installing in your life is a yearly rhythm of retreat and reflection. Most years, my wife and I get away to a cabin in rural Pennsylvania for a few days at the end of the year to reflect on all that God did in our lives over the course of the year, and to look forward and plan for the upcoming year. If you’ve never done a spiritual retreat before, there are resources on the With The Shepherd site to help you get started.

Daily, weekly, and yearly rhythms are a gift to us from God. Their purpose is not for us to do so that we can earn His acceptance. Instead, as we assemble with God’s people, read God’s Word, and reflect on God’s works in our lives little by little, we behold Him and become like him. The purpose of these rhythms is to help us to live out who we already are in Christ for the rest of our earthly lives. The God who was faithful to redeem us walks with us day by day as we embrace rhythms of grace.