Word Count: 795

Contact Jerry Ousley

The Habit of Not Having Habits

by Jerry Ousley  
12/11/2015 / Christian Living

Sometimes a habit isn't really a habit. What I mean by that is this; we do whatever it may be instinctively and naturally without giving it a second thought. For instance, I know without even thinking about it how my wife likes her coffee (that's simple enough she likes it just the way I like it black! But sometimes she wants a little water in it to help cool it off), I know not to say certain things because they are buttons that when pushed make her angry. I know how she likes her cloths folded and I know what she likes to do in her spare time. These things aren't habits but over time just become instinctive actions.

It wasn't always this way. When we first got married "go to school." To be honest, my wife and I are complete opposites. Over the years we have found a few things we like to do together; for instance, we both like to camp. But after a day or two I'm ready to get back to the comforts of home air conditioning, my computer, and my recliner. I'm tired of swatting bugs, building fires and sleeping in a cramped up camper. Debbie, on the other hand, loves the outdoors. She'd rather be doing something outside than anything else.

When it comes to conversation, I'm fairly quiet until someone gets on a subject I know a lot about. But Deb, she never meets a stranger. She can converse with anyone.

Because we are opposites, it has caused a lot of arguments over the years. But eventually we discovered the things each other really likes to do and we learned to do them together. Actually I found out that I like many of those things a lot. And she's had to do the same. She has found that some of my interests are good for her as well. We can't completely change each other but we have learned to do some things together and some things we do alone.

Take shopping for instance. I hate shopping. When I go to the store I have a list and I very seldom deviate from that list. I go in, get what I need and get out as quickly as I can. Sometimes Deb likes to shop. By that I mean that she looks around to see what is a good buy and which stores might have the same item at a lower cost. She can spend an entire afternoon with her sister, or our daughter and come home with very little to show for her time shopping. I've gone with her a few times and folks, what I wind up doing is following her around like a little puppy dog wishing she'd hurry up so we could get out of there and go home. So what we've discovered is that when she goes shopping she don't ask me to go and I don't volunteer!

That's not a habit it's just an instinctive act of knowledge. What I mean by having the habit of not having habits, spiritually speaking, is that as we begin to grow in Christ, we do it instinctively. The things we've talked about in this series, the habit of a clear conscience, the habit of handling adversity, the habit of rising to the occasion, and the habit of recognizing God's provision, are things we learn to do instinctively and not just going through the motions because we've gotten used to the idea.

When a habit is forming we are completely aware of what we are doing. When I go through my morning routine I do those things step by step but not once am I not aware of what I'm doing. I know that it is a habit and I do everything in the same way and in the same order. But when we do something instinctively we don't think about it we just do it. We don't say in our minds, "okay, this is step one and this is step two." We just do them. We keep our conscience clear without thinking, "Now I've got to do this to keep a clear conscience." When adversity comes and we handle it in the right way we aren't telling ourselves, "I've got to stop and think about this. Now what was I supposed to do when things go bad?" When an opportunity comes along we don't think about taking advantage of the opportunity to witness for Christ we just rise to the occasion. And we can thank God for His blessings and provision without having to stop and think about it. As we do these things naturally, instinctively and without thought then we have developed the habit of not having habits and we grow in Christ.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be! Click here and TRUST JESUS NOW

Read more articles by Jerry Ousley

Like reading Christian Articles? Check out some more options. Read articles in Main Site Articles, Most Read Articles or our highly acclaimed Challenge Articles. Read Great New Release Christian Books for FREE in our Free Reads for Reviews Program. Or enter a keyword for a topic in the search box to search our articles.

Enter comments below. Due to spam, all hyperlinks posted in the comments are now immediately disabled by our system.

Please type the following word below:

Not readable? Change text.

The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.

Hire a Christian Writer, Christian Writer Wanted, Christian Writer Needed, Christian Content Needed, Find a Christian Editor, Hire a Christian Editor, Christian Editor, Find a Christian Writer