A Spiritual War

Have you ever noticed not all habits are hard? I forced myself to workout today with the promise that I would not stop again. I know I feel and look better when I am taking care of myself and yet it is one of the hardest habits to form. Which started me thinking… why is that?

I mean it’s not hard for me to create the habit of watching tv all day. It’s not hard for me to create the habit of eating out every night. It’s not even hard for me to create the habit of looking at social media every single hour even when there is nothing new to see and I am simply looking at all the posts and comments I just looked at an hour before! But ask me to workout, study the Bible or prepare a healthy meal and it’s like pulling teeth.  Why?

I don’t know if there is a scientific or physiological reason, but I started thinking more today about the spiritual one. I mean what if in the spiritual realm there is a battle for your life.  The home team has the advantage of you being in their territory. So of course it’s easier to follow them.  You want to be lazy – go for it. You want to eat junk – please do! Will these have a negative impact on you long term? Absolutely. But right now, while you are in our land, they will make your life simple. fun. easy.  Meanwhile the opposing team is fighting for you to resist. Don’t do it, they scream. The short term benefits may seem nice, but long term you want to be with us.  That means you have to workout, eat right, love others… blah blah blah. All the things that are really hard to do right now. And if you decide to do these things, your actions will ultimately have rewards as well.  You just have to work for them.

When Jesus spoke to His disciples about leaving, He warned them of the troubles they would face. The world, was not of Him. It would not be easy. But then He reminded them to “Take Heart” (John 16:33) because He has already overcome the world. He didn’t give the disciples permission to live according to the world.  In fact, He instructed them to do just the opposite.  To fight the opposing forces despite the trouble it may cause them with the knowledge that their efforts were not in vain because the victory belonged to Him. Perhaps our battle of habit forming is simply just another element of the spiritual battle already in place.  And, if we fight hard against the home team, the rewards, both immediate and eternal, will be far greater than anything we could ever imagine.