For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. – Romans 8:5-6
Each day of life is filled with decisions. Most are so small that they are hardly even recognized as decisions. Others are monumental, gut-wrenching and drastically change the course of life. Should I change jobs? What field of study will I choose? Who will I marry? Should I be a Christian? Decisions like these set us on a unique path that affects everything. A third category of decision, however, is the most interesting, decisions that seem routine, but end up changing everything.
The third category is habits, those things we do almost unknowingly because we have made the decision so many times that it has become involuntary. Our habits powerfully set the direction of life by tiny degrees every day. The cumulative effect of these continuous tiny changes outweighs even the monumental decisions of life.
If it is our habit to participate in Sunday school every week without fail, we will reap many good things, such as: knowledge of the Word, encouragement, Godly friends and deeper faith. These benefits positively affect all the other decisions we make during the week, compounding the decision to put God first.
Tragically, the opposite is also true. Sticking with the Sunday school example, the habit of staying up late Saturday night and skipping Sunday school leads to a compounding of harmful effects, such as: missing all the benefits listed above, guilt over divided loyalty, and a diluted spiritual focus that leads to vulnerability to temptation. The cumulative outcome of this choice made over and over is a much weaker focus on Christ.
The verse above spells it out clearly, “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” Decisions are made with the mind. Make decisions that will bless your spirit and you will see your life being transformed day by day.
