Spiritual Habits for this New Year
Having recently had some work done in our bathroom, we’re having to change decades-long habits. For nearly twenty years I’ve dried my hands on the left-hand side of the sink but now to reach a towel I have to turn to the right. After so many years, my action is pretty automatic—now going the wrong way.
Each time I fail to grab a towel, I’m reminded how beneficial habits can be. After all, these movements and actions become a regular part of our lives and make our movements easier. God has wired our brains to make some actions seemingly automatic—we don’t have to remember how to tie our shoes or move a fork to our mouths to eat.
But not all habits are healthy. We might get into the mode of gossiping to make ourselves feel better, or soothing ourselves with comfort food, or going shopping as a distraction from facing hard things. To counteract these actions becoming automatic, we can add some Christ-honoring habits to our lives.
The beginning of the year can be a wonderful time to ask God to help us in this. Training ourselves to act in a certain way can seemingly take a long time, as I am finding when I wash my hands, but once we form a habit the action becomes more natural. When we implement some regular spiritual practices, we will more easily turn to God for help, affirmation, wisdom, and peace, in the situations of our lives.
Here are three habits you could consider making regular in your life as we launch into 2023.
1. Memorize Scripture
The wonderful writer on spiritual life, Dallas Willard, recommended that we memorize passages from the Bible regularly. When one of his friends visited him at his home, Dallas excused himself for a moment and went into the dining room. When his friend found him a few minutes later, Dallas had his Bible open before him as he reminded himself of the text he was putting to memory.
When we memorize Scripture—and I agree it can be hard to keep all the words in the right place—we will then have it available to us at any moment of the day. The Holy Spirit can remind us of His truth and grace, right when we need it most. Looking for a text to memorize? Colossians 3:1–17 is an excellent one.
2. Try a different way of praying with the Bible
If we always spend our daily devotional time the same way, we might find that it starts to feel stale. Why not try a different way of engaging with the Bible? For instance, you could turn a passage into a prose poem or a song. Or read through the text several times, pausing to chew on the goodness of the words as you ask the Holy Spirit to bring to mind the truth or idea you need just in that moment. Or you could personalize some of Jesus’ words from the Gospels, again making them your own.
Praying with the Bible is one of my favorite practices. Doing so helps me to slow down my over-stimulated brain as I wait to see if God has something special for me from His word. (I like this so much that two of the chapters in my book 7 Ways to Pray outline ways to pray with the Bible.) Give it a try! God will certainly meet you in His word.
3. Practice God’s presence
At any moment of the day, no matter where we are, we can stop and remind ourselves that Christ lives within us: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Brother Lawrence from seventeenth-century France popularized this notion of calling to mind the gift and mystery that Another dwells within. As we abide in Jesus, He lives in us.
We can place our hands over our heart as a reminder of this amazing truth. Doing so can help us to center our thoughts and emotions in Christ as we remind ourselves of God’s transforming love for us. How we view the world, ourselves, and the situations we find ourselves in often is changed through this simple practice of looking up to God and affirming who we are in Him.
May you enjoy life with God in this new year, knowing that He can shape your habits to bring glory to Himself and goodness to you.
–Written by Amy Boucher Pye. Used by permission from the author. Click here to connect with Amy.
