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READ: GALATIANS 5:16-25, 6:7-10; COLOSSIANS 3:1-17\n\n\n\nHave you ever thought about how your habits form you and take you places? For example, if you have a habit of brushing your teeth every day, your teeth are likely healthy. If you were to neglect this habit, it would be quite obvious.\n\n\n\nDeveloping intentional, healthy habits is something that we, as Christians, are called to do. But there are other habits that seem to sneak in without us even realizing, and sometimes these habits are negative. These unexamined, negative habits could be hours of scrolling through social media, staying up way too late every night, or even keeping a messy bedroom (I\u2019ve really struggled with that last one). These habits can leave us anxious, exhausted, and overstimulated.\n\n\n\nWhy do our habits matter to God? Well, Romans 12:1 says to \u201coffer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.\u201d It calls this our \u201ctrue and proper worship.\u201d Being a \u201cliving sacrifice\u201d affects our whole lives\u2014including our day-to-day habits. Of course, we can\u2019t do this perfectly. Jesus is the only perfect sacrifice. Through His sinless life, death on the cross, and resurrection from the dead, He made the way for us to be with Him forever. And, if we\u2019ve put our trust in Jesus, He is living in us through the Holy Spirit, empowering us to live as holy and pleasing sacrifices and to develop intentional, God-honoring habits. These habits help us focus on Jesus\u2019s presence with us and remember that we are dead to sin and alive in Christ. They could be Scripture reading, prayer, worship, being part of a Christian community, or journaling. These habits are easier some days than others, but when we continue in them, we often find that we continue to trust Jesus and His love for us more and more. And as we grow in our understanding of His love, we also grow in our love for God and our neighbors. We learn to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus (Matthew 16:24).\n\n\n\nForming habits is not about trying to earn your way into the Kingdom of God. We can only become God\u2019s people by putting our trust in Jesus. Habits, however, are great practical ways to deepen our relationship with Jesus and learn to walk in step with Him. \u2022 Joshua Schmitz\n\n\n\n\u2022 Over the next few days, consider paying attention to your habits. What do you do when you get up in the morning? Before you go to bed? Before you leave home? When you get home? As you notice these habits and patterns in your life, ask, \u201cWhere is this habit leading me?\u201d Is it leading you to live according to today\u2019s Bible passages (Galatians 5:16-25, 6:7-10; Colossians 3:1-17)?\n\n\n\nAnd we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord\u2019s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV)