In South Carolina we see beautiful, majestic oak trees as well as the ubiquitous climbing vine called kudzu.  The oak trees have been alive for a significant number of years whereas the kudzu commences each spring and covers everything that is not moving and then dies off after the first frost.  It seems that in our instant society we may be prone to act more like kudzu rather than an oak tree.  As you think of the difference between kudzu and oak trees consider the following contrasts:

• Pulling all-nighters instead of studying consistently throughout the semester.
• Starting a crash diet instead of developing healthy eating habits.
• Going to the gym to fulfill a New Year’s resolution instead of exercising throughout the year.

All-nighters, crash diets, and New Year’s resolutions may start out strong but they often don’t result in long-lasting change because they don’t address the core issue which is changing your habits.  A habit is an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary. Aristotle writes that habits reveal our character, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

First you make your habits, and then your habits make you.  Be mindful of the habits you’re establishing, Somerset Maugham wisely observed, “The unfortunate thing about this world is that good habits are so much easier to give up than bad ones.”

Do you want to be kudzu or an oak tree?  If you want to be an oak tree then you need to establish your habits in season and out of season – practice when you feel like it and when you don’t feel like it, do you what need to do even when it’s difficult.  The prophet Daniel kept his habit of prayer even when he knew it could mean his death,

Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously.  (Daniel 6:10)

Did you notice the words “as he had been doing previously“?  Daniel was going to be true to God regardless of the consequences.  Motivation gets you started – habits are what keep you going.  If you want to learn more about habits you may want to read my post on The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.  Your goal is not simply to look good for a short time like kudzu but to develop an overall character that consistently does what is right – and that takes time to develop – just like an oak tree.

Dr. Rick Higgins
Professor of Discipleship, Columbia International University