At church today I heard the following line: “Too many members rely on a spiritual experience, and not their spiritual habits.” That was a great line. Don’t ask me whose quote it is… I don’t know. So, what does it mean?
- There are spiritual experiences. These might include witnesses of the Holy Ghost, dreams, visions, and voices. You know, all the cool stuff.
- There are spiritual habits. These might include reading your scriptures, praying, temple attendance, and keeping the Sabbath day holy.
Even though a powerful spiritual experience may be an amazing witness. If you don’t do the daily habitual things, it is so easy to forget and even lose spiritual strength. If we want to know the Savior, we must walk with him. We draw near to him by walking with him, our hand in his, his hand in ours. Those tender moments speaking to each other through prayer and scripture study are necessary for a lasting relationship.
I have been on a quest to be worthy of Zion. I realized sitting in that meeting today I could do better. I could set aside time just to read and study. I could exclusively study during that time. I often multi-task my study and only half focus on it. I could also schedule a regular time to go to the temple. I haven’t attended as much as I should because I need a hip replacement. My hip makes it hard to get changed, as well as standing up and sitting down. But I could go anyhow and not fear the pain and discomfort.
We talked a while back about “slow is smooth and smooth is fast.” Same principle. A habit is created by repeating it over and over again. You are never good at it the first time, but by the 50th time, or 100th time the action becomes a habit. It becomes part of what you do. It would be like exercising daily, learning to play the piano, mastering a technique. The first push-up is not a habit. But by pushup 5,000 one hundred days later, you are developing a habit.
So, what can I do to develop better habits?
- Actually Daily Scripture Study
- Monthly Temple Appointment
- I need a new daily routine with my boys.