Atomic Habits Series

ATOMIC HABITS

Ephesians 4:17-24

January 12, 2025

Do you know what this past Friday was? It was

QUITTER FRIDAY!

That’s right, quitter Friday. Analysts have determined that on this day is when most people give up on their goals and resolutions for the new year. How about you, are you still on track with your 2025 goals?

You see, too often we don’t make goals and resolutions because we know ourselves, we’re not going to follow through. Since it’s frustrating to give up, why make goals, if I’m only going to be depressed that I can’t follow through. You know what I mean?

But does that have to be our reality? I don’t think so. In fact, let me be a bit firmer, I am certain you can meet your goals. But most of the time, it’s not in the goal setting, it’s in the execution.

How do we say YES I can do this and believe you will succeed? Last week, Eric mentioned the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. Personally, its one of the best books I’ve read. It’s so basic, you think you could have written it.

The premise of the book is taking these small steps, like small atoms, to make significant changes in our lives which become powerful. As you put atoms together, they become more powerful, and when we take those small steps with our habits, we can accomplish amazing things too. We do it in the power of God.

I’ll talk more about the book in a moment, but here’s what I want to talk about.

We set goals and use a system called SMART. Eric talked about them and outlined what the SMART system is. And, it’s a great system, one which I’ve used many times and advocate. SMART is an acronym how we make our goals. They are are - - - -

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic

Time Sensitive

And that’s a great way to approach your goals. Let me give you a couple of examples.

If you want to read the Bible, follow the Bible reading plan where you read 3-5 chapters per day, that’s specific, measurable, attainable, it’s realistic and it has a time component. So, it’s a good goal.

It’s like dieting and exercising. You can’t simply say you’re going to lose 20 pounds by the end of the month. That’s not going to work. That’s not realistic.

Even saying you’re going to lose weight, isn’t realistic, because it’s not specific or measurable. In fact, it’ not realistic because of that.

But let me tell you, if you’re trying to read the Bible this year, that’s great, but there’s more to it. In order to be successful, you need more than the goal. You need a system.

I know!! I know!! It’s aggravating. You need to make plans and have systems just to meet your stinking goals. It’s more work than you want, but if you don’t, then you’re always going to be stuck and frustrated that you can’t meet your goals.

So, what does that mean? A system means you have a definite plan - - - - and most people don’t have that. Many of us say, ‘I’ll try to make time to read the Bible or I’ll figure it out when it comes to exercise of eating, or whatever it might be.’

But that’s setting us up for failure. The system is what undergirds the goals. The system is your plan. It’s saying “I’m going to read the Bible in the morning with my first cup of coffee.

I’m going to wake up 20 minutes earlier and sit in a certain chair. Remember, when I asked you last year, do you have your space to worship God privately?

That’s setting up a system so you don’t celebrate quitter’s day. And if you set up a system, if you have a plan, you can use that to draw closer to God as well.

As we get into the scripture, the point James Clear was making in Atomic Habits is that we try to become 1% better each day. Don’t jump for 20%, just 1%. Can you learn from yesterday, so you can do better today, and keep that going tomorrow.

Can you seek to draw closer to God, a little more today, and a little more tomorrow, and then a bit more on the next day. It’s not obsessing about it. It’s being intentional.

The math is really interesting. And I love math! It was my favorite subject. What would a 1% increase look like and what would a 1 % decrease look like?

Look at these charts - - - -

CHART

If you improve 1% per day, that growth is compounded, because it’s growth on top of growth. And you will increase from the base of 1 to 37. That’s 37 times growth.