Breaking bad:Replacing bad habits with good habits.

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I recently read a book titled A Celebration of Discipline which prescribes 12 disciplines necessary to grow in relationship with God namely;

1. The inward disciplines, that is, meditation, prayer, fasting and study.

2. The outward disciplines; simplicity, solitude, submission and service.

3. The corporate disciplines; confession, worship, guidance and celebration.

My view is that the quality of my life, decision making and relationships is determined by the quality of my relationship to the all-knowing, ever present, all powerful and loving God. This book therefore provides some great and practical tips to help me in this quest of closeness to God which should lead to a more effective life.

In response to the message of this book, I decided it was good to put these principles into practice and integrate these disciplines into my life. But while trying to look at my schedule to create time for these, it quickly became apparent that my time is largely occupied by a plethora of activities. It was especially difficult for the inward disciplines because the outward disciplines are largely attitudes while the corporate disciplines are seemingly already taken care of in the cell group meetings every Wednesday in my community and the Sunday worship service at my church.

In between waking up early to prepare to go to work, snaking through the traffic jam, checking my social media feed, early morning meetings, etc., I then have to create time to meditate, pray, and study the word meaningfully. Please note that many other people add on preparing 2, 3 or more kids for school and driving them there.

Suffice it to say, the world system we live in is set up against these inward disciplines and unless we intentionally fight against this tide, we find ourselves conforming to the standard that we are dealt. Busyness is the hall mark of our lives. The world is moving at an ever faster pace bringing with ever more options in terms of gadgets, apps, income streams and a whole host of other things wrestling with our ever reducing attention span.

However, over the last 3 weeks, due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has rocked the whole world, most of the activities that filled my day have been scaled down due to the lock down imposed by our Ugandan government. These restrictions are not limited to Uganda only but are being applied worldwide. The world system is on lock down! The things that seemed like necessities to us have been scaled down or in some instances shut down, bringing us to the realization of what actually matters in life which for me is summarized by the verse in the bible which says that godliness with contentment is great gain(1 Timothy 6:6).

They say it takes 21 days to develop new habits, and so I am hoping that by the end of this lockdown (which will be a total of 35 days since it started), I will have shed the bad habits of sleeping late, waking up late, checking my social media as soon as wake up, etc. and replace them with meditation, prayer, fasting and study.

I hope you too will resolve to replace some bad habits with good ones.