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.
If you haven’t been saved yet,
then you must do that first.
This is important, because 21 days from tonight,
we’ll have a check up service.
And at that service, we want to see every car
to be able to drive up to the next level.
If you’ve been faithful in learning your new habit, and doing your struggle area of spiritual growth
for all 21 days, from now to then,
then you’ll have the opportunity
to proclaim your private victory
by driving on up to the next level!
If most of you are able to do that with me,
then we will see growth in New Hope,
in more ways than one!
As your pastor, I am much more concerned
about your personal, spiritual growth,
than in our attendance growth.
I’m not just here to fill a bunch of empty seats,
I’m here to introduce you to Christ,
then to help you to grow your relationship
with Him.
HE is the one Who can meet your every need,
and fill your every void,
Not me and not anyone else here at New Hope.
If we all become focused on the Cross,
and are doing everything within our power
to drive as straight and fast as we can towards it,
we will see God begin to bless us and prosper us
in ways we could never imagine.
There is nothing more thrilling
than to live in the center of God’s will.
And every level on this board
is the center of God’s will for each one of us.
If you want to know
more about what He has in store for you,
then obey Him in these areas of your spiritual life,
then He will trust you enough
to allow you to serve Him in others.
It’s so exciting to see
what God has already blessed us with.
Now let’s use our gifts
and show Him a return on His investment in us.
Philippians 1:6 says, “And I am sure that God,
Who began the good work within you,
will continue His work until it is finally finished
on that day
when Christ Jesus comes back again.”
At the point of salvation,
God began His work in our lives.
And He has proven Himself to be faithful to us, now it is our turn to prove ourselves faithful to Him.
Be proactive, begin with the end in mind,
put first things first, and
4. Think Win Win.
You shouldn’t look at those around you
to find out what you need to work on,
look at your own problem area
and work on that for these next 21 days.
When you get your spiritual life straight
it will become a win win situation
for you and the church.
Why do we need to establish new habits
in our lives?
Because GOOD habits bring about maturity.
Maturity is the goal for anyone ever born,
because maturity means health.
In this case, we are talking about spiritual health.
The immature person says:
Immaturity says: YOU take care of me;
YOU come through for me;
YOU didn’t come through for me;
I blame YOU for the results.
But a mature person says:
Maturity says: I can do it; I am responsible;
I am self-reliant; I can choose.
And our ultimate level of maturity
is to be able to get to the point where we can say:
Ultimate Maturity says: WE can do it;
WE can cooperate;
WE can combine our talents and abilities and create something together.
Immature people cannot choose
to become ultimately mature
because they don’t have the character to do it.
And mature Christians is what it’s going to take
to build a church of our own.
That’s why we need to start
maturing ourselves spiritually,
so we can shoulder what God has for our future.
As we make our next level our new life habit,
I want you to look at your current habits
and decide if there’s one that’s taking up your time,
your thoughts, your energy, and your money.
Do you have an old habit that can be gotten rid of,
to make more room for your new habit?
I Corinthians 10:31 says,
“Whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do,
you must do ALL for the glory of God.
Do you have a bad habit
that does not bring honor and glory to God?
Then you need to get rid of it.
It’s been said, to gain anything worth having,
you have to let something go.
Say you men want the figure of a body builder,
or you ladies want the figure of a gymnast,
then you have to let go of the junk food
that is only slowing you down
and making you feel like your driving a trash truck!
And when you let go of the junk food,
and you replace it with fresh fruits and vegetables,
then your body will run like a race car,
and you’ll be on the right track
to get the healthy body you want.
What is a habit anyway?
A “Habit” contains 3 things:
Knowledge, Skill and Desire.
In order to make something a habit in our lives,
we must have to have all three.
Knowledge is the What to do and Why.
We get this through personal study of the Bible.
We talked about daily devotions last week.
If you’re having problems
doing your daily devotions,
I have a verse you may want to consider carefully:
James 4:17 “Remember,
it is sin, to know what you ought to do
and then not do it.”
We need knowledge and we need Skill.
Skill is the How to do it.
You get that by coming to church and and hearing messages.
Desire is the motivation, the Want to do. (You)
I’ve had people tell me
that they want to stop smoking or drinking,
but they don’t have enough DESIRE
to actually stop.
They don’t really have the want to.
Spiritual Habits.
We’re going to take the next 21 days
and focus on the one thing
that’s keeping us from advancing
to that next spiritual level.
Look at your level on the board.
I pray that God will bring that back to your memory
every time you begin to slow down,
skid off the path, or start to do a U turn.
For the next 21 days,
we need to get up in the morning,
think about our new habit,
and take action to fulfill it day by day.
As we start to develop these new habits
someone else is going to become
extremely interested in our lives.
Do you know who that might be?
Yes, it’s Satan.
His primary goal is going to be to detour us
on our journey to become like Christ.
He wants nothing more than to see you fail.
Every little failure he can help us experience,
creates more insecurities and doubts in our minds.
We have the doubts, then what do we do?
We give into temptation,
and we may even give up trying completely.
But that’s a choice.
And this time, as we start on our new journey,
we need to choose to do what we know is right.
I Corinthians 10:13 says,
“But remember that the temptations
that come into your life
are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful.
He will keep the temptation
from becoming so strong
that you can’t stand up against it.
When you are tempted,
He will show you a way out
so that you will not give in to it.”
When you start to slip away from your new habit, you need to use the escape
that God promises to provide,
and choose to do what you know is right.
It’s your responsibility to do what’s right
even if everyone around you is doing wrong.
Look at the word Responsibility –
“response - ability” -
It’s the ability to choose our response.
Mature people recognize that responsibility.
They don’t blame circumstances, or conditions
for their behavior.
They know their behavior
is their own conscious choice.
So how can we take control of our lives
and get started?
There are two ways to put ourselves
in control of our lives and our habits
immediately.
1. We can make a promise - and keep it.
2. We can set a goal - and work to achieve it.
As we make and keep these commitments,
we will begin to see effectiveness in our lives.
In Matthew 19:26,
“Jesus looked straight at them
and answered,
‘This is impossible for human beings,
but for God everything is possible.’”
God CAN and WILL help you
develop your relationship with Him
and He will help you to grow spiritually.
Again, I’ve laid a lot out on the table
so let’s review what we’ve learned tonight:
How do we 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.
2. Begin with the end in mind.
Start with a clear understanding of our destination.
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.
3. PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST- day-by-day,
moment-by-moment focus on your spiritual growth.
4. Think Win Win-
Think positive thoughts as you grow spiritually
which will give you and the church
a win win situation.
Make a promise - and keep it.
Set a goal - and work to achieve it.
This is how we can live effective lives for Christ.
21 Days to live your struggle area, 21 days.
Let’s Pray.
