It’s all about attitude

Luke 4:16  And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

I like this phrase: “as his custom was.” It tells me that it is something that has become a habit.  Here, it refers to Christ going up to public worship in the synagogue, a habit that He had been doing as a boy and which He kept up when even now as a grown man.

What is a “habit”? A habit is something that a person does often in a regular and repeated way. It is a behaviour that is acquired after repeated actions.

There are two kinds of habits: good and bad; positive or negative. A good or positive habit is simply a habit that produces positive benefits, actions and attitudes you want to acquire and make a part of your life. If today you wake up and you say: "Today I am going to add a new habit to my life. I’m going to read my bible the first thing in the morning." Well, that’s a positive habit because it is sure to benefit your spiritual life.

Christ had a habit of attending public worship on the Sabbath day. If even our Lord Jesus found it important to regularly attend the public worship of God, what more so should we be found doing the same thing? It is our duty to worship God. Therefore, it is our duty to attend public worship regularly.

Some argued: “But I have a hard time getting up on a Sunday morning.”
My reply: “But you can wake up at 3am to catch a flight; can you?”

It’s all about attitude. We can just do about anything if we make up our mind to do it.  And good and bad habits are formed because of certain good and bad attitudes. Good attitudes produce good habits. If a child says: “I’m going to greet all the uncles and aunties I meet in church every Sunday.”  That’s a good habit; it is the result of a good attitude. It‘s positive and it only brings about good character and praises from others. It is also the bible principle to honour the elderly (1 Tim 5:1-2).

 “We become what we repeatedly do” (Sean Covey). If you greet each other every Sunday, it becomes a habit. If a child does not form the habit of greeting his elderly members; it is almost certain he will never do it when he grows to a young adult. It becomes his character and the perception of others on him is that he is ill-mannered and disrespectful.

There are certain habits a child of God must have in order to grow spiritually. Christ set for us an example that we should follow in His footsteps (1 Pet 2:21). Hence, there are at least 5 positive habits that we can learn from Christ for successful Christian living which will help us in our spiritual growth:

1. Christ prayed (Mark 14:23). We must pray (1 Thess 5:17).
2. Christ knew the scriptures (Luke 2:46-47). We must meditate on the word of God daily that we may know the word of God (Psa 1:2; 1 Pet 3:15).
3. Christ attended public worship regularly (Luke 4:16). We must attend worship regularly (Heb 10:25).
4. Christ was busy with the works of God (John 9:4). We must be busy in the kingdom of God (1 Cor 15:58).
5. Christ was without sin (1 Pet 2:22). We must bear the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23; 1 Pet 1:15).

Do you want to grow spiritually? If you do, you must start cultivating positive Christian habits. They are habits which will help you to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. A true Christian will want to adopt the good habits of praying, studying the Bible, attend all worship and bible classes, serve in the kingdom of God, and practice the Christian walk.

Do you have the habits that will make a faithful and spiritual Christian? Praise the Lord if you have and keep it up. If you have not, you need to start forming good Christian habits: “But like as he who called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living” (1 Pet 11:15).


Jimmy Lau
Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.