Establishing Good Habits Series

Learn To Drive Series - Week 3

Habits

Does Everyone remember our GPS board?

It’s our Guidance Positioning System.

For those of you who missed out last week,

this is the tool we’re using this year

to keep ourselves on track.

We all want to "Learn to Drive"

by taking responsibility for ourselves

spiritually, and emotionally.

To live up to our name “Christian”,

we need to know where we are,

and where we’re going.

That’s where our Guidance Positioning System

comes in.

It gives us a visual,

and shows us exactly where we are

in our spiritual growth.

Do you know what the definition of insanity is?

It’s doing the same thing over and over again,

expecting different results!

This year, we’re going to stop spinning our wheels

doing the same BAD habits we’ve always done,

and we’re going to create GOOD habits.

How to Develop Good Habits for Spiritual Growth:

1. Be Proactive - take the initiative and responsibility

to look at our spiritual goals,

then change our habits and our behaviors

to reach them.

Tonight in this message

I’m going to use a lot of material from the book

THE SEVEN HABITS by Stephen Covey.

I would encourage you to buy this book

and apply it’s biblical principles to your life.

We need to be proactive, and we need to

2. BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND

Beginning with the end in mind

means to start with a clear understanding

of our destination.

It means to know where we’re going,

and understand where we are now,

so we can make sure the steps we take in life

are always in the right direction.

When you know where you’re going,

you’ll know what you need to do to get there.

For our invitation time last week,

I had each of you come up

and secretly place a car on our board

next to the level that you are currently working on.

Remember, You can only place your car as high

as the lowest level you’ve mastered.

For instance, if you’re a Christian

and are having daily devotions,

but you have never been baptized,

then your car should be next to baptism.

You have to faithfully do each step

before you can continue to grow.

That’s where you start in your obedience.

Say you’ve learned how to love people,

but you are not giving your tithe and offerings,

your car should be next to tithes and offerings.

Everyone here needs to have a car on the wall.

We will pass out the bulletins from last week’s service for those of you who missed it

so you can see an explanation of each level.

You need to hang on to that bulletin all year,

so you can see your next level and work toward it.

Now that we know where we are in our spiritual journey, I want to talk to you about establishing some new habits.

After all, the only way

we can move up on the board and in our lives

is by LIVING each of these steps.

What do I mean by living it?

I mean every single day you live these steps

that help you grow spiritually stronger day by day.

(DVD: DC Talk DAY BY DAY)

We talked about DAILY last week, remember?

To grow spiritually we need to be proactive,

begin with the end in mind,

and 3. PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST

day-by-day, moment-by-moment.

It takes 21 days to establish a habit.

You do something every day for 21 days in a row,

and it will become a habit in your life.

Right now I want you to look at the board

and determine the lowest level

that’s NOT a real part of your life.

I’m talking about a spiritual level

that’s NOT an every day part of your life.

Now, for the next 21 days,

I want you to think about that level every day.

Day in and day out.

And I want you to put it into practice.

Now if your level is salvation or baptism,

those are only one time events.

So you need to spend the next 21 days

thinking about that until you’ve decided

it’s something you must do.

Then talk to whoever you need to talk to,

to make it happen.

I would love to help you find a relationship

with God your Creator.

I would also like to hold you under the water

until you cry “Uncle”.

I’m just kidding, I’ve never lost anyone

even if they were bigger than me.

I would love to help you

identify your relationship with Christ before others through baptism.

If you have already been saved

and you know you need to be baptized,

our next baptismal service is on February 18th.

I’ve already had 3 of you last week

come to me to be baptized.