What if the growth you desire is hidden in the behaviors and habits you need to change?
Let’s think about our fatigue: physical, spiritual, or emotional. It can be an obstacle. Then there’s discouragement. Circumstances may not be like we want them to be. Politics, economics, morality declines, and so forth may be discouraging, even despairing. Or maybe we are stuck at a place or time that hinders our growth. And we all can say, ‘been there, done that, and have the scars to prove it.’ In this present world, we might be in a survival mode, rather than a thriving mode. But is the solution hidden in change?
Let’s consider a scriptural answer. “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” (James 1:22-25 ESV). Ah! The solution is in active practice.
Now if you read James’ words and feel a sting, you are not alone. We all have felt it. Knowledge and belief without action really are meaningless.
In chapter two, James demonstrates how Abraham’s faith produced his works (2:21-22). Then in verse twenty-four he writes “a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” The conclusion then is “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead” (2:26). Our actions reveal our beliefs.
In chapter four, James brings the issue to an important crossroad. He probes our couch potato apathy. We make plans, perhaps good plans, with seemingly no thought about tomorrow (vss. 13-14a). Then James rather pointedly asks, “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (14b).
His probing is not intended to scare us. James is trying to awaken us to the reality of how truly brief our lives are so that we may change behaviors and habits that hinder our growth. He tenderly nudges us to consider what blots out our potential. And for James, thriving is a simple act of consistently doing what we already know to do (v.17). So considering the brevity of life, together with our current beliefs, behaviors, and habits let’s be proactive.
Our lives really are the cumulative effects of what we believe, and how we have acted on those beliefs. Both positive and negative beliefs together with good or bad habits have formed our current lives. And consistent action is the engine that made it possible. I cannot emphasize this too strongly. We cannot escape the law of causality. Beliefs plus consistent habits equal our lives. They form the cause (the why). And as the cause, they produce the effects (the what) of our current lives. So from the mirror, personal responsibility stares us in the face.
But we have grace in this thriving-by-growth process. Human decision and willpower alone cannot transform us. We have Holy Spirit wisdom, strength, and guidance available to us. We only need to ask for His help and take the next step.
Just as we are not responsible for the lives of others, they are not to blame for ours. It is a hard fact, without a doubt, but personal responsibility is the seed for growth. For thriving instead of surviving. And we can’t change everything. We can’t change our parental DNA or how we were raised. We can’t change our culture or our skin tone. But, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can change ourselves. We can change our beliefs, our attitudes, and our habits. We can change our actions and reactions. Yes, we can change the trajectory of our lives. This of course is good news because our forward steps of faith are in our hands.
Remember, life is a fading mist. Smoke in the wind. Every minute our lives are getting shorter. But we don’t dwell on that. We only acknowledge it to fine tune our growth needs. So, carefully consider a single step you will take today that will result in something wonderful in your life?
Growth takes time. We only have to look at the children around us; from toddler to seniors in high school. And how long did their growth take? What were the heartaches? Setbacks? Did their parents throw in the towel? Did they need help along the parental trail? This illustration could unfold to ninety and one hundred years. But you get the point: growth is not an easy, instant experience. If we miss or ignore this truth, we will get discouraged and give up, claiming it is too hard and takes too long. Let us remember the tortoise and the hare.
Consider my pasture project and apply it here. I looked across my scruffy pasture. Fences down. Fist-sized saplings growing everywhere. Dried, ugly grass that couldn’t support a herd. Frowning, I knew something needed to be done. Shaking my head, I returned to the house promising myself to take care of it later. My wife mentioned the condition of the pasture, but I shrugged it off and turned on the TV. Then, days turned into weeks and months with almost a year passing. The pasture got worse. Finally, I decided to get some help. I asked my grandson to cut the trees and dig up the stumps. While he dealt with the trees, I mowed the now waist high grass. It was slow and tiring work. I also had to burn the aftermath of cut trees and roots. Then came the turning up of the fallow ground. Afterwards, I raked it all level then fertilized and seeded the pasture. While new grass was growing, we repaired the fencing, posts, and gates. And I strung an electric wire, knee-high around the whole thing. This project took 18 months of hard, aching work before I had a ’new’ pasture that could sustain a herd of calves. It only transpired because I finally took personal responsibility, stopped making excuses, and acted to restore the pasture.
Exercising personal responsibility is the only true way forward. It is the secret. And it becomes the magic of a thriving life. Dreams form the vision. Plans build the bridge. Consistent actions cross the bridge and form the future. The journey may be painful, but the destination will be an exhilarating freedom.
Let’s pretend for a moment that you and I are facing each other across a restaurant table, with coffee and apple fritter. I lean in and ask you this honest question: Who are you in your heart of hearts? The real you. Not your role or title. The you reflected in the mirror.
The answer describes who takes care of your physical body and health. It describes who nourishes or neglects your inner self. It reveals your habits that build something significant or quietly erodes your potential. It clarifies your relationships, which are either growing stronger or deteriorating little by little.
Yes. This is heavy lifting. A strong challenge. That’s why it is a sacred exercise. Guard it tenaciously. It is between you and God alone. And for those who choose to grow, it brings peace and satisfaction.
You have heard it said, what the mind can conceive, you can achieve. It’s great poetry but incomplete instruction. I tell you conception requires action. Inaction only achieves laziness. Conceiving a great idea achieves nothing. Acting to bring the idea to fruition is success.
You have heard it said, you can do it. It is wonderful motivation and encouragement but not wisdom. I tell you just saying ‘I can’ doesn’t mean I can. There are any number of real reasons for not achieving a goal. Some of these are belief, skill, energy, disability, knowledge, and self-esteem. Of course, some hindrances can be overcome by education and training, but just saying ‘I can’ is not sufficient.
You have heard it said, just believe and claim it. It’s a great theory but not reality. It may give you hope, but it is a half-truth. I tell you faith is an action word. Half-truth mantras won’t grow your life. You are like a packet of seed, full of potential. If you fail to plant the seed, nothing is produced. As noted in James’ teaching above, faith without action is dead.
Growth is hard work. It is earned through slow, consistent habits. Growth is about action. It is not about more knowledge or education. It is about a new plan and strategy. A new way of thinking and acting. New behavior. New habits. A view to freedom from traps and sabotage and the same old, unsatisfying life.
Learning from books is a good thing if you practice what you read and learn. Attending seminars and church services is good if you practice what is taught. The principles and truths are seed, planted for growth. Active, consistent practice produces the genuine, tangible, and measurable growth in your life.
What are you going to do about the small, perhaps innocuous, habits that are showing up in your life? What are you going to do about failure and inconsistency? Are you ready to reignite the fire and personal power to achieve a better life?
Do you know that incredible results await your consistent actions to grow? But you have to take immediate responsibility and act on your knowledge and insights from your self-assessment. To get new results, you must do things differently, create new causes. No matter where you are, or who you are when you read this article, look back ten years, even five years, and answer these two questions: Am I where I wanted to be since then? What choices, during those years, have brought me to this stage of my life?
If your answers to those questions are not satisfying, perhaps it is time to make new choices that will change your life once and for all time. Decide today and act so that the next five to ten years will not end like the last decade has. Make the rest of your life a fantastic journey of joy, growth, and fulfillment.
While this is not a step-by-step guide for your growth, it does point you to the truth of what it takes to achieve that growth. Refuse to be deceived by false promises, scam artists, or fantasies. Stay focused on a simple discipline of choice, due diligence, and consistent action.
Give yourself the grace to look in the mirror again. Don’t walk away. Honestly look. Acknowledge what changes are needed. If you do, you’ll know what to do. And deciding for yourself, by the grace of God, you’ll grow into your future.
May the Holy Spirit give you grace to take that first step. Blessing as you do.