Habits of Choice

II Peter 1:5 says” …make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.” (NLT)

As I was reading these verses this morning, I felt led to write about them.  I learn much from writing about the Bible.  I hope you can learn with me as you read this post. 

Make Every Effort

I got the title “Habits of Choice” from reading Mart DeHaan’s commentary on this scripture.  In this short commentary DeHaan adds “and effort” to his “habits of choice.  Therefore, the following habits are a choice made by conscious effort.  (https://odb.org/US/2021/07/09/making-every-effort) Click on the scripture part for this day to read DeHaan’s whole commentary.

Goodness

This is one of the fruits of the Spirit I wrote about a couple of weeks ago.   Being good not only means obeying the law but it can also mean how we treat others.  If we follow Jesus’ example of goodness, He both obeyed the laws of the land set out by God through Moses, but He was also good to everyone, even the ones who were killing Him.  The phrase “So be good for goodness’ sake” came to my mind.  It comes from a children’s Christmas song.  It is a song about being good so kids can get presents.  Yet it says, “for goodness’ sake”.  My take is we are to practice goodness not to receive anything in return but to make it a habit of choice for the benefit of others.

Knowledge

Adding the habit of choice knowledge is an everyday effort.  Not only should we be studying scripture, but we should be making an effort to add knowledge about other things as well.  This morning my youngest child reposed a meme which said, “now that “he” reached adulthood “he” was dismayed to find most adults are not smart”.  I laughed inside because my child is only in their twenties and looks at the world much different than I do.  I disagreed with the meme’s statement.  I do not think most adults are not smart, but some adults choose not to make a habit of gaining knowledge.  Even if you never went to college, you could make an effort to gain knowledge.  With the dawn of the internet one can learn about anything these days.  However, do not gain knowledge to make yourself sound smart but make a habit of choice to gain knowledge for the benefit of others.

Self-Control

Self-control is also one of the fruits of the spirit.  Making the effort to choose to have self-control will have many benefits for yourself and others.  For instance, sometime in the next year I will probably have knee replacement surgery.  The wear and tear of working on concrete floors has worn out my knee.  It does not help I have gained weight during the last year mostly from being sick but also because I am not working fulltime anymore.  Now when I am finally feeling better, I can no longer get out and go for walks like I would like to because of the pain in my knees.  My doctor says I need to lose some weight before I can have surgery.  Therefore, I need to use self-control in what I eat and when I eat.  This is difficult for me but in the long run it will benefit me and a healthier me is a happier me, that benefits others.  I need to make a habit of choice to use self-control.

Endurance

In the New International Version, the word “perseverance” is used instead of endurance.  When I think of endurance, I think of the long-distance runner.  The runner needs to know they need to pace themselves for the whole race so they should not run as fast as they can to start but to keep a steady pace throughout.  Life is like that.  We need to be steady in our pace as we go through life.  Yes, life has its ups and downs, but we need to be steady in how we handle these ups and downs.  An example of this is when I was getting cortisone injections in my knees.  The doctor was trying to find the right place to inject the medicine, but he had to work the needle through some tissue, and it was very painful.  The injection went on for what seemed like forever.  I had to keep myself steady and to tell myself it would be worth it in the end.  It has been three days and it feels like it is starting to help.  Soon I will start physical therapy and that will be something else I have to endure.  But making the habit of choice of endurance will result in a better life for me with many rewards.

Godliness

What is godliness?  Some think it is being “holier than thou”.  Yet is godliness being so holy you make people feel uncomfortable?  No!  After all, none of us are perfect and no one wants to be around someone who acts like they are perfect.  Only Jesus was perfect because He was God’s Son.  Yet, Jesus never acted like He was more holy than the people He was with, always.  Ever watch the TV series The Chosen?  (https://watch.angelstudios.com/thechosen)  I like how the producers portray Jesus as one who loved to laugh and have a good time.  He just beams love throughout the show.   Maybe we should be like Jesus.  My church’s subheading is “Real Faith, Real People, Real Life” (https://bethanyschofield.org/). They do not expect anyone who attends there to be perfect, just real.  Maybe having real faith while being a real person having a real life is what godliness is all about.  Growing Christ-like is the way to be godly.  Make a habit of choice to be real and godly at the same time.

Mutual Affection

Mutual affection is in my mind getting along with others.  This scripture is written to Christians, but it can also be used in everyday life.  For instance, if you have a coworker who is really annoying try your best to get along with them while at work.  You do not have be friends just not be rude to them or gossip about them when they are not around.  I sometimes struggle with this with a coworker who is lazy.  She makes me angry, but I need to remember God wants me to get along with her and not gossip about her.  I need to choose to make it a habit to have mutual affection even for the ones who I find annoying.

Love for Everyone

I think everyone struggles with loving everyone.  For instance, I am having a hard time loving the man who murdered my friend.  Yet God wants me to pray for him.  His intent was to kill my friend and her family to get the child he had with my friend.  My friend had escaped his brutal abuse from him to give her child a better life, but he came after her and killed her and left her in a ditch on the side of the road.  God wants me to love him.  That is difficult.  How much more is it for the family and close friends to forgive this man.  Yet God wants me to love everyone, but I do not think He wants me to love their actions.  I just need to choose to make it a habit to love.

Not Alone

Yet none of us can do any of these habits of choice perfectly with our own strength.  Let us back up to verse three of this passage.  3By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.  Ah, so I can ask God to help me to have goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, mutual affection, and love.  Every day I can make an effort to make these great habits of choice through God’s power within me.  What are your habits of choice?

Below is a couple of things from Christianbook.com Home. I am an affiliate with Christianbook. If you click on a link and make a purchase I may receive a small percentage of the purchase at no extra cost to you. This helps with the costs of running this website. Thank you for your support.

This is where you can purchase the TV series The Chosen I mentioned above.

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Power to Reinvent Yourself: How to Break the Destructive Patterns in Your Life – eBook By Jason Frenn / FaithWords In Power to Reinvent Yourself, Jason Frenn walks you through the necessary steps to make drastic and permanent changes in your life by breaking cycles of destructive behavior with God’s help. Whether your goal is financial or professional success, weight loss, an end to addiction or abusive behavior, Frenn shows you how changing your perceptions, forming Godly habits and choosing forgiveness will lead to the unleashing of real power in your life. No matter how stuck you feel, you don’t have to stay there. The freedom of a relationship with Christ will allow you to reinvent yourself and live the life that God intends for you, free from the holds of bad habits.