Your letter was in our mailbox when we returned from a quick one-day trip to visit our daughter and son-in-law in Indiana. I’ve never seen myself as an expert at home repairs, but I’ve gotten into the habit of taking my tools along with me every time we go to see the kids. This visit involved installing a new water heater in their mobile home. My congregation may hear me pray about our need for spiritual growth and other such important topics, but on this visit I was praying for God to help me install a hot water tank! It was an all-day project but I managed to do it. Yes, I remembered to thank the Lord!

You make a good point in your letter. I agree. It seems that those who claim to be Christians aren’t always at the front of the class when it comes to acting in a Christ-like way.

The fact is that although we are made right with God in the instant we accept Christ as Savior, becoming Christ-like is a lifelong process. I know it is for me. The best I can say is that someday when I grow up I want to be like Jesus!

There are essentially two aspects involved in our spiritual transformation: we must get rid of our old, sinful nature and take on the new, Christ-like nature. This means dropping our old habits of living, and developing new habits of thinking, speaking, and acting like Jesus would if He were in our situation.

God has made us creatures of habit. We often find ourselves imprisoned by our habits, but we can use this tendency to form habits to our advantage. A spiritual giant out of the past, Thomas a’ Kempis, said, "Habit overcomes habit." With God’s help we can get out of the habit of doing what’s bad and get into the habit of doing what’s Christ-like.

Let’s say that in conversation with my friends I have the bad habit of talking about other people and criticizing them. Before I meet with my friends I could ask the Lord to help keep me from saying anything negative about anyone not present, even if one of my friends starts talking this way. I would undoubtedly have to keep sending up silent prayers to the Lord during our time together, especially when a person comes up in the conversation for whom I have a very good criticism or a juicy bit of condemning information. If I determine beforehand to keep from saying anything negative about anybody the next time I get together with my friends, and then do the same before the next gathering after that, I’ll find myself breaking the habit of talking judgmentally.

Of course, it would be best if I would also determine to start a good habit at the same time, sort of to counterbalance my sense of the loss of my bad habit! After all, I don’t want to suddenly go silent when I’m with my friends because I don’t want to say anything bad. I’d want to be part of the conversation. I could determine to take advantage of lulls in the conversation by asking my friends questions about how their week went, where they’re planning to go on vacation, or how their car’s running. I’d be replacing a bad habit with a good one.

What I’m describing is spiritual training. When you stop to think about it, training is a part of every sport, job, or anything else. We don’t automatically do something perfectly the first time, or the second, third, or fourth time! Trying hard isn’t enough. Training hard is also necessary. A life lived for Christ involves more than trying hard; it also involves training hard. That’s what being a disciple means: one who is being taught and

trained. When you decide to turn your life over to Christ you become His disciple, a follower of His in training!

It’s been hot and muggy all day, so Diann and I have decided to drive over to Lake Erie (it’s only about 10 miles) and walk barefoot along the shore. OK, so it’s no Lake Tahoe or Swan Lake. But making two sets of footprints in the sand even transforms Lake Erie into a romantic location.

A fellow seeker after truth,
Dave