Ten Healthy Habits – Part 4 - Encouragement Today

Your choices determine the direction of your life more than you think. Every decision you make today will have some sort of effect on your future. That’s why choosing healthy habits is so crucial.

Today, we will look at two more of the Ten Healthy Habits. If you want to grow in your faith and achieve all God has for you, strive to master them.

I will be a worshiper.

Throughout scripture, the worship of God is demonstrated in various ways: kneeling, lifting hands, falling prostrate, standing, clapping, shouting, eyes cast up or down, singing, and playing musical instruments, just to name a few.

All of these ‘ways’ of worshiping God teach us one thing- worship is when you give God all the glory he deserves. In other words, you are the instrument of worship, and God is the receiver of worship.

It’s not just a one-time act on Sundays. It’s a lifelong practice of living with God as your supreme focus. It’s an all-encompassing way of life.

The Bible teaches us to give our whole “bodies to God because of all he has done… Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2)

Your body, mind, and soul are instruments of worship before the Lord. And when you make it a healthy habit in your life, it separates you from the worship of worldly thoughts, desires, and customs that are anti-Christ and fixes your heart on Jesus. Worship turns you toward God.

I will be a person who speaks well of others.

An ancient proverb says, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”(Proverbs 18:21) What kind of fruit comes out of your mouth?

Your words matter. They have powerful consequences in your life, both for good and evil. The Bible says the tongue is “restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!” (James 3:8-10)

James is right. Cursing others shouldn’t come out of the same mouth that praises God. Instead of a habit of “foul or abusive language…. You are to let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.” (Ephesians 4:29)

Using our words for a godly purpose is the antidote to gossip, cursing, slander, and disunity, not only in our relationships with others but with God himself.

But how do you create the healthy habit of speaking well of others? Especially when James says, “No one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.” (James 3:8)

The only one who can tame your tongue is with God’s help, through the power of His Holy Spirit. If your words have been less than godly, it’s time to ask God for help. Pray and ask him to help you tame your tongue so it aligns with your worship and his good purpose.

The Ten Healthy Habits: