Help Others Build Onramps for Spiritual Habits
We should all be concerned.
Every believer should read Scripture regularly to let God’s Word shape their hearts and minds, enabling them to live according to its truths instead of the false narratives promoted by the world. It’s important that every believer live in prayerful dependence on God and participate in the life of the church.
But the evidence shows it’s not happening as much as we’d like. “I don’t want to sound alarmist, critical, or preachy,” writes George Guthrie in Read the Bible for Life: Your Guide to Understanding and Living God’s Word. “But let me speak frankly. I am concerned about where we are currently in terms of our reading of the Bible, and I want you to be concerned with me. Let me say it again: we are not reading the Bible, much less reading it well.”
Guthrie continues:
Ask one hundred church members if they have read the Bible today, and eighty-four of them will say no. Ask them if they have read the Bible at least once in the past week, and sixty-eight of them will say no. Even more disconcerting, ask those one hundred church members if reading or studying the Bible has made any significant difference in the way they live their lives. Only thirty-seven out of one hundred will say yes.
If this is true of Bible reading, I imagine that many Christians are also struggling to pray. And, according to Lifeway Research, it also seems that COVID has “accelerated a trend of less frequent church attendance that was already in place.”
Build Onramps
The solution? We need to build on-ramps to help people build spiritual habits.
It’s not enough to tell people, “Start reading the Bible, talking to God, and attending church.” We need to help people begin to build these habits into their lives. Doing this can often involve a number of steps:
- Understanding why a habit is important
- Assessing readiness to change
- Making time and space for the habit
- Learning how to begin (where to start in reading the Bible, for instance, and what tools to use)
- Ensuring that the habit starts small and builds, rather than choosing behaviors that are unsustainable
- Dealing with internal resistance and setbacks
- Sustaining the habit for the long haul
The aim is to help people develop lasting habits of regular Bible reading, prayer, and church involvement, not just for a short period, but for a lifetime. We want people to live Psalm 1 lives: delighting in God’s Word, meditating on it continually. We want people to be able to live in prayerful reliance on God, and to grow along with God’s people.
This usually starts with small, unsteady steps and gradual habits that become part of life, along with setbacks, recoveries, and plenty of modeling and encouragement. Small, consistent habits, practiced over a long period of time, make a huge difference.
Help people build these important habits in their lives. Engage in honest conversations and connect with those eager to learn and grow in these areas. And then build on-ramps for them, helping them to start slowly without getting overwhelmed.
Your efforts really will make a difference.
My upcoming book, 8 Habits for Growth, is designed for individuals, but I hope pastors and leaders will also use it to help Christians develop important habits. If you’re interested, check it out here.
