CT12-BA11 | Choices Form Habits Which Develop Character
July 13, 2020
Minute of Transparency: Missing the mark
Intro: Last week we finished up the conversation about temptation - Satan’s main weapon in the controversy. And this week we get to shift gears a bit and talk about ways we react to the controversy.
Today’s Basic Assumption: Choices Form Habits Which Develop Character
Cast your vote
Live your vote
Making good choices
Forming good habits
Developing your character
// 1. CAST YOUR VOTE
As we’ve fleshed out CT we’ve talked a lot about the Sin Virus and its impact on the human condition.
We talked about Jesus coming to Earth as part of God’s Rescue Mission - and that His death on the cross created the antidote to the Sin Virus.
And we’ve also talked a lot about this idea of an Eternal Election. That there are two candidates, and every person has to cast their vote at some point in their lives for one candidate of the other.
We also understand that voting is not a choice. Unlike in our political elections where you can choose not to vote, in the Eternal Election choosing not to vote is actually a vote for the incumbent - the candidate currently running the show. In this case - Satan…
So today, we’re going to spend a few minutes going back over the importance of your vote.
You know, it’s funny to watch TV and scroll through social media right now. There is a constant barrage of celebrities putting out messages like these:
“Rock the Vote”
Your vote matters
There is no change without your vote
You have one vote - use it!
Silence means you’re against change
And every variation of this...
The interesting piece to this is seeing how worked up people can get about voting in an election that determines who will run the country for 4 years!
Yes it is important. But in the grand scheme of things - nothing compared to the election going on between God and Satan.
“The Eternal Election between God and Satan is for eternity - its forever. It isn’t about being comfortable or uncomfortable for 4 years. It’s about living forever, or forever being separated from our Creator.”
This is why the Eternal Election is so important, and why our vote is the most important decision we can make in life.
Before we talk about choices, habits and character - we MUST talk about our vote first - because without the vote, everything else is a waste of time.
In order to explain this, we need to use some churchy words - some Christian-ese if you will, to help us understand two very important concepts.
These words are Justification and Sanctification.
Justification is the same thing as accepting the antidote to the Sin Virus is the same thing as voting for God in the Eternal Election.
This is STEP 1 - the most important decision you can make in life.
And if you haven’t completed STEP 1 there is really no point in talking about STEP 2, because it really doesn’t matter yet…
So let’s define Justification using the Dictionary: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/justification
"The act of God whereby humankind is made or accounted just, or free from guilt or penalty of sin."
When I was younger, I can still remember learning how to remember the meaning of the word:
My parents taught me to deconstruct the word - and allow it to interpret itself:
So the root word is “justified” and in order to understand it you say it like this: "Just-as-if-I’d” never sinned...
And therein lies the meaning: When we accept the antidote to the Sin Virus, and vote for God in the Eternal Election, God starts viewing us “just as if we’d” never sinned
He looks at us as if we are perfect - like Jesus was perfect
This is why our vote, or accepting the antidote is the most important thing we can do in life
Because that one decision provides us the lifelong status of being “Justified"
Let me illustrate:
A good example is getting your Driver’s License. You spend much of your life unable to drive. You have to rely on others to drive you around. Then you start studying and practicing to drive. And eventually take your written and driving test in order to get your license. And when you are handed that license for the first time it is an exhilarating feeling of freedom - something that you will have for the rest of your life
Another good example is graduating that final time - whether it be from high school, college, trade school, graduate programs, etc. For me it was graduating with my MSW. For so may years I had been in school, studying, writing papers, taking tests, struggling at times to keep moving forward. But on that day, walking down the aisle with cap and gown, it was that exhilarating feeling again. They handed you that piece of paper and it was something you would have for the rest of your life - something nobody could take away from you
And so it is with Justification - it is that pivotal moment in your life where you make the decision to accept the antidote. You pull the lever and cast your vote. And as long as it was sincere - it will be that defining moment in your life - a moment that nobody can take away from you
// 2. LIVE YOUR VOTE
So that’s it right? You accept the antidote, cast your vote and you’re done?
I mean, I guess - if you really want to get technical about it. The Bible does suggest that there is only one way to attain eternal life and that is by accepting the antidote to the Sin Virus.
But then what do you do with the rest of your life? And what do you do with the Bible? I mean it is chock full of advice, recommendations, direction, training, and even commands. Are we to just throw all of that out?
I can’t imagine that would be the right course of action. In fact wouldn’t that be a lot like doing this:
A man gets pulled over for speeding, the police officer tells him why he was pulled over, runs all of his information, and then gives him a little pep talk - letting him go with a warning. The man thanks the police officer, starts his car, squeals his tires and gets right back up to 100 in a 35 MPH zone.
Does that sound right to you?
Of course not! When you do something wrong, get caught, and are shown forgiveness, you are typically more aware of your behavior and try to modify it!
And so it is with our lives. When we accept the antidote to the Sin Virus - the temptation to sin is still there. It doesn’t go away on its own. Satan is actually going to work harder on you - because his plan for revenge is falling apart.
From that point on we must choose to be different, to live different and to focus on what is important. In essence - we must be willing to Transcend Human…
And this process of Transcending Human is called Sanctification:
The dictionary's definition: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/sanctification
"To make holy; set apart as sacred; consecrate."
Even more churchy, Christian-ese words
In a nutshell, Sanctification is the process of listening to the Holy Spirit through our conscience in order to make positive changes, leveling up, and Transcending Human:
So Justification is a one-time event that changes your life forever
And Sanctification is the life-long process of changing your life for the better
This journey doesn’t really start until you are Justified
That doesn’t mean you can’t make positive decisions and life changes prior to being Justified
But true sanctification begins when you fully realize the gift you’ve been given
And the changes you make from then on are changes you can’t imaging NOT making
You’re so grateful that God forgave you of your sins, you look at the small, incremental changes as the least you can do
// 3. MAKING GOOD CHOICES
So when we begin this process of Sanctification it typically plays out in the following way:
“Choices, form Habits which develop Character ”
So let’s start with the choices…
Here are some important things to understand about making choices:
First, our freedom of choice came from our Creator
We MUST acknowledge that if we are to fully appreciate it
Next, even in situations that happen "to us” - we get to choose how we respond
This choice is called “attitude” and it is powerful!
I’m sure you’ve heard this statement: "Success is 5% talent and 95% attitude"
Another concept is that choice = control
When we believe we have the ability to make decisions, we feel more in control of our lives
And finally, we must understand that choice ≠ blame
The sooner we understand this the better
Because we have the ability to make decisions and choose how we respond to things that happen to us, the following statement is true:
“No one can make us feel, think, or behave in a certain way."
Now I know this is one of those truths that we love to hate - right?
On the surface it can be explained to us - and we agree with it
But on the other hand, when a person does something to us and we immediately “feel” angry - we want to blame it on them. We say, “They made me so angry.” Which completely goes against the statement we just agreed was true!
And this is where feelings get the better of us
Feelings are the one piece of us that we don’t have direct control over. When something bad happens to us - feelings are going to immediately appear out of nowhere
But… We do have indirect control over our feelings. By choosing to think or behave differently, we can indirectly control our feelings and manage them that way
To wrap things up - we can also place choices into two pretty simple categories. We won’t spend a lot of time here - but we should at least acknowledge them:
Mundane choices: Boring and inconsequential choices we make day in and day out
What shirt to put on in the morning
What route we’re going to take to work
Mac or PC
etc.
Eternal choices: Choices that have eternal consequences - either for you, or those around you
Your vote in the Eternal Election for example - the biggest eternal choice
How we treat other people
Choosing whether or not to steal from work
Choosing whether or not to be honest on your taxes
Do I spend the time to teach my child this life lesson, or just go about my day ignoring it?
And obviously there are good and bad choices in each category…
// 4. FORMING GOOD HABITS
Habits are things that form after you string together a bunch of smaller choices.
And similar to our choices, habits can be mundane or eternal (and good or bad):
Mundane Habits: Habits that we form in order to get stuff done:
These habits are super helpful in processing large amounts of information and taking complex processes and making them automatic
For example - your morning or bedtime routines. You can probably almost do these in your sleep you’ve done them so many times
Similarly - after you’ve driven home from work 100 times, your brain can almost go on auto pilot - which is scary! You know how it feels when you realize you haven’t been paying attention for the last 3 miles...
These are two things that are helpful to you - but there are also bad habits that form and cause us trouble in life
For example, an alcoholic forms the habit of stopping by the bar after work every night. At the beginning, he has to actually think about it - and make sure he is heading the right direction. But once the habit is formed - the car literally drives there by itself… And it gets really bad when the man realizes how ingrained the habit is and tries to do something different. Often times the habit is so strong - he continues to drive to the bar even knowing he needs to stop...
And the list goes on - so many things we are able to do easily and quickly because we turned all those little choices and decisions into a habit
Eternal Habits: Habits we form that can have an eternal impact on us, or those around us:
Similarly to above - there can be good or bad eternal habits
A good eternal habit would be reading uplifting books - books that help you grow spiritually and keep your mind focused on the important things in life
Once this habit is formed you are more likely to pick up a book like this at the book store than a trashy magazine
A bad eternal habit could be something like falling down the dark hole that is social media. Getting overly involved in it - believing everything you see, allowing it to drive your purchases, allowing it to determine if you have a good day or not, listening to the negative comments people make about you
Dangerous stuff - especially for teenagers looking for their true identity in life
Once this habit forms it is very difficult to put the phone down and choose to live in reality
Now there’s nothing inherently wrong with social media - but like everything else - Satan has found a way to corrupt even good things. And for some people - it becomes their Achilles' heel
// 5. DEVELOPING YOUR CHARACTER
And finally, we have character…
Character is developed over time and is the culmination of your choices and habits.
It can be looked at as the eventual outcome, the sum of the parts, the inevitable result over time.
Controversy Theory views the character as your Spiritual DNA:
Character is something that is so ingrained in who you are - it can actually impact your states of medical and mental health
Like actual DNA - it becomes the literal makeup of you as a person
If a scientist does DNA testing on a piece of your hair - they are able to match that hair to a hair found at a crime scene with almost 100% certainty!
And so it is with your Spiritual DNA - when people really start to analyze you, and who you are on the inside - they are able to match you to one of two people:
God: After making good choices, and forming good habits - you develop the character of God
Satan: After making poor choices, and forming bad habits - you eventually develop the character of Satan
Now don’t take this too literally… I mean one doesn’t start to grow a halo and the other small red horns and a tail...
It’s much more subtle than that. And like any standard bell curve - most of us are in the middle
If you’ve ever taken an advanced math class, or a statistics class - I’m sure you’ve seen the bell curve with the standard deviations:
You can spend years of your life studying concepts like this - but the important piece for us today is that when it comes to Spiritual DNA, this is probably a very good representation of how things shake out
If one end of the graph was good character and the other was bad character there would most likely be close to 68% of us right in the middle with weak Spiritual DNA - very difficult to tell us apart from each other
Then there would be two groups making up around 27% that you could probably identify as having good or bad character
Next you would have two groups making up around 4% with very strong Spiritual DNA and obviously good or bad character
And finally - you have .2% of the population that are referred to as outliers - so far away from the average that these people are viewed as strangely different. In terms of Spiritual DNA these people could either be extremely diligent - or extremely fanatical in terms of their beliefs
So looking at the bell curve - people often think being in the middle - in the dark blue section is a good thing
But CT suggests this is NOT the case:
If this bell curve signified the grades all students got in your math class - you wouldn’t want to be in the middle right?
You’d want to be up there in the 2.1% - those getting 98% in the class
And so it is with Spiritual DNA - being in the middle simply means your average. You don’t care enough to be more. You’re just skating through life ok with making as many bad decisions as good ones…
And this is what Transcend Human calls us out of. TH asks us to “Rise above the human condition. Be more tomorrow than you are today. Keep working at it as you grow and learn."
Now before we finish up today - I need to reiterate the fact that we broke today’s episode up into two sections:
Cast your vote (Step 1)
Live your vote (Step 2)
I think we made it pretty clear that casting your vote is the most important step - Justification is the only thing that will ensure you live forever with your Creator.
So let’s land the plane:
This week: Ask yourself these simple questions:
Have I cast my vote? If not, Step 1 - Git er’ done!
What are some good, eternal choices you can make today or tomorrow? Choices you’ve been fluctuating on in the past - but need to get right from now on?
What are some good, eternal habits you can form by simply choosing to start doing them more and more often?
And finally, where is your character on the bell curve? If you’re somewhere in the middle - what would it take to move it in the right direction?
Next week we continue talking about character and what it really means for us, and the world around us. This episode really set us up to understand how character is developed. But next week we need to go into more detail about the role it plays in our lives, and how it interacts with our Step 1 decision. Next week is the Twelfth Basic Assumption: Our Character Impacts Everything
Thanks again for joining us today. I hope you’re enjoying the content and telling others about it.
Have a great week and until next time, keep Transcending Human!