VERSE- Pattern of the world

Romans 12:2
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will."

It is often too easy for us to fall into the patterns of this world. We live our lives in such predetermined routine that we lose sight of the most important things in life. We forget the bigger picture and focus on matters that really are of trivial importance but end up holding a big part in our hearts and minds. As a teen, school is the dominating force that most of our lives are based around, whether we're conscious of it or not. Many people are working hard and striving to earn good grades for their future. Sports and music and clubs all tie in to school, as well as other extracurricular activities. The people we go to class with and the people we are friends with, all these relationships hold a big part of our lives that we interact with on a daily basis. School and friends and clubs certainly are not bad, but in my life I find that they often take the place of God or reading the Bible. I get caught up in excelling in school and applying to colleges and practicing for soccer, things that this world values, but forget the simple act of doing devotions or talking with Jesus, the very savior of my life!

When you think about it, there are a lot things that people aspire to have in this world- good grades, friendship, athleticism, comfort, a job, an interesting hobby... but none of them can truly take the place of God. As a busy teen about to apply to college, I find that I often have to have "renewings of my mind" on a daily basis. Here I am, a top student, all happy because I'm doing well in school and soccer and clubs, but I forget that I'm not the one who can ultimately live my life alone. Take away all my activities and hobbies and successes, and what do I have? Nothing but Jesus. And that's the way I should strive to live- to do these things, to go to school and play a sport and play a musical instrument, but according to God's good, pleasing, and perfect will. To live my life for and through Him, and not controlled by the patterns of this world. Because we already live in the routines of this world, it is especially hard to break free of a certain mindset that earthly things are more important than a spiritual connection with God. We may know that deep inside, but we must try to act that way every day. Only then will you be "transformed" by this renewing of your mind.

Importance of keeping with a habit daily

Yup, I'm back. (Just a quick apology to those who checked my blog expecting new posts but didn't find anything. I was on vacation with awesome awesome cousins and now I'm finally back home.)

Chances are, if you've ever promised yourself you'd change a habit or start a new one before in life, you started to flounder a bit after a month or two. You'd hit up the gym, feel great about doing workouts for a month, and then suddenly find yourself going every other day, twice a week, only on the weekends, and then not at all. Or maybe you promised yourself you would write every day or scrapbook or practice scales or do devotions, only to drop it after a week or so of continued effort. It's weird how unpredictable life can be, huh? There always seems to be "something" that happens to mess up your plans. And after that one day of missing your habit, it stretches into another longer gap, which eventually snowballs into destroying your self discipline. 

The thing to do is not to give yourself any excuses. You're just so tired and sore from a week of work and you think you can't possibly go to the gym. So, do a few push-ups and crunches at home. You'll be out of town for the weekend. Bring your notebook or scrap booking stuff and force yourself to cut out a block of time to do it on your trip. It takes more effort to start up a habit after a brief hiatus than to just do the habit every day. Commit to something daily and eventually it will become routine. 

On vacation with my cousins, I suddenly found myself without the time to keep up with my blog. I would've felt much better just doing a short post everyday, rather than feeling like I "have to catch up" now that I'm back. But I'm not that worried- spending time with my cousins was definitely worth it. And now that I have the first post in a long while done, I can comfortably get back in my habit.