Holy Habits!!

Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the King. 1 Peter 2:17

It has long been said that life is what you make it. We can enter into each day with dread and fear, or we can enter each day with expectation and joy. In these times, it’s really difficult to keep our focus on the positive and start each day with habits that add to joy rather than detracting from it.

A habit is a settled or regular tendency or practice. Most of us have habits that we don’t even realize have become part of our daily routines because we do them without even thinking of it. If we already have these habits, maybe it would be good idea to make some of them holy habits so that we can not only do things for ourselves but for others.

Three holy habits that I am trying to incorporate into my daily life are compassion, respect and kindness.

Compassion is the reaction one feels deep within – like a kick in the gut. When we see sad news such as children starving, someone hurting, senseless killings, or everyday tragedies, it’s too much for us. The question is, what can we do? The need is so overwhelming that we can’t begin to meet it! However, God would have us show compassion to others.

The motto for our church for years was Compassion Into Action. I love it because even though it’s great to feel compassion, it does very little good unless we are moved to put it into action. Abraham Lincoln says: We must do for others what they cannot do for themselves, but we must not do for them what they will not do for themselves. In other words, show compassion but also extend hope.

The next holy habit is respect. We live in a rude world in this day and time, and it is only getting ruder. Common courtesy isn’t so common anymore, and, respect for people, property, and opinions is at an all time low. No matter where we go in this life or who we meet, we take our attitude of respect with us. Respect is what can make our daily encounters with others terrible or wonderful. Every one doesn’t have to think alike, dress alike or believe alike, but everyone does have to respect others.

The world right now isn’t setting a very good example of respect, but our Lord tells us that we should respect and honor all men and women. We all want to be respected by others and treated with dignity, so we must treat others as we would want to be treated.

Kindness is a given in this world. God cares about people, so we should care as well. Even if we feel uncomfortable reaching out to others, everyone has the ability to give a smile, a wave, or a kind word. Everyone responds to kindness in some way. Masks are making a smile difficult, but look to the eyes and see the kindness there.

As we go about incorporating holy habits in each of our lives, remember compassion, respect and kindness are some of the habits that show to others that we know God, and that we are willing to share and show our faith.