You Are Not Alone

The Habit of Good

     Hello! I hope everyone's week has been fantastic! I hope you read something good in your Bible this week. I know I have. I'm currently reading Psalms and Numbers in my Bible. Psalms is such a beautiful book, and Numbers is full of the history of the children of Israel. I have made a habit to read daily, and today is my 24th day in a row that I've made it a priority to read my Bible! I'm very proud of myself, and I hope you are proud of yourself for something you did this week!

     Before, I didn't really think to read my Bible. The only day I would remember to read it was Sundays. I know. Sad. I never prioritized it. I told myself the night before, you need to read your Bible tomorrow. You only need to do a couple of chapters. Read your Bible when you get up in the morning. But that never happened. I always gave myself an excuse. I read my Bible once, maybe twice a week. In March, I only read my Bible three days. And it was only one or two chapters all three days. I know! It's terrible. I look back, and I don't understand why I hadn't read it.

    April 14th, something changed. It was a Sunday, and I finally told myself to prioritize my daily reading of the Word. I didn't just tell myself to wake up the next morning and read my Bible. I made goals. I forced myself to make habits. And that's exactly what happened. Now, it feels wrong for me to have not read my Bible before noon. Today, we're talking about building good habits.

     Building a habit isn't easy. It takes about 21 days to build a solid habit. That is three weeks, 21 days of you telling yourself to do something, until it feels weird to not do it. That may seem like forever, but when I started building my Bible reading habit, it went by so fast! 

     You know when you make goals, and the first couple of days, you're so excited about it, that you have three, maybe four days, where you accomplish your goals perfectly? And then, day five, maybe day six, you crash? You wake up, and you just lost all of the motivation that you had for the previous days. That happened to me, and some days, it still does. But if you push through, you won't regret it.

     This morning, I woke up, not really wanting to read my Bible, or listen to it, which is how I've been reading Numbers. I tried to find an excuse not to read it. I could pretend to forget about it. But then again, I'd be lying to myself, and to God only. My mom doesn't tell me to read my Bible, nor does my dad. They know I'm old enough to do it on my own time. Every once in a while, they'll ask what I'm reading, but that's it. They would have no idea. What is the point in lying to yourself about something?

     I forced myself to read my Bible today, because I didn't want to break my habit. If I were to skip today, my streak would have broken, and I would use excuses again, to where my habit of reading my Bible is gone. I want to keep this habit. I want to be able to tell my Grandad truthfully about what I've read in my Bible when he asks. My grandpa is always checking up on me about what I'm reading in the Word, and I'm so glad he cares that much. I don't want to lie to him. Another excuse to read my Bible, instead of pushing it away.

     It's crazy how we want so much to do good, until we have a chance to do it. I mean, in our personal lives. Reading the Word, praying, speaking positively about someone even though they've hurt you, staying silent when someone is trying to attack you with words of anger. Those are all good, yet very difficult things to do. They take discipline.

     I found this quote on Pinterest(which I amazing btw, I have so many quotes that are sooooo relatable) that I think is so true.

    You don't build habits by making drastic changes. It's all about starting small and being consistent.

     Start small. Be consistent. Get an accountability partner. Grab your closest friend's hand and say, We can't do this alone. Let's grow together. 

     You can do this. I promise you. You can. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Start small. Be consistent. It doesn't have to be reading your Bible. It could be walking past a mirror, and you feel good about what you see. Say, I am beautiful. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. 

     I know it seems hard to think that way, but you can do this! Set goals for yourself! A goal of mine is to go on a 2 mile walk three times a week. I may not want to in the moment, but I feel so good during and after it. Make it a habit. You can do this.

     Start small. Stay consistent. 

     I know this isn't something that I would normally post about, but I hope this helped you in some way. Remember, you are loved. You are cherished. You are not alone. God bless. Have a great week.