Healthy Habits

"He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it." (Titus 1:9)

I have a hard time watching the Cowboys these days. They should be undefeated. I'm no expert, but it seems to me the mistakes they are making that are costing them games are so fundamental that they should have been addressed in the preseason.

Drills in the preseason are practiced repeatedly thousands of times. The principle behind the repetition is to do something so many times that it becomes habit. There's no pressure during the drill so take the time necessary to develop the appropriate habit.

Under pressure it is human nature to revert to habit. So, by developing good habits without any pressure, when thrust into the pressure cooker of game time a player will react correctly without having to think about it.

Another principle in practice is developed by the coach that every player fears. He's the guy that gets in your grill and raise the stress level in your life to a point where you're either going to wet your pants or perform your task perfectly for fear he will kill next time. Now, no coach is really going to kill his player. But if the player is just a little uncertain about this it can be used effectively by the coach to bring about the behavior he wants.

The gametime application of this that no game pressure will ever be as intense as that coach in your grill. So, if you can perform the task correctly, once you've rehearsed thousands of time without any pressure, then perfomed correctly under the intimidating glare of that coach, it will be a piece of cake to perform correctly with the game on the line and 80,000 rabid fans screaming bloody murder.

I need some men around me who can perform calmly and correctly when everything is on the line. I need men around me who are hold so firmly to the truth that nothing can pry their white-knuckled fingers from it. I need men around me who can obediently act on correct doctrine when weaker men would collapse under the pressure of the intensity of life.

These are the men that encourage me to work hard at my walk with Jesus so that I can perform obediently, too. I want to be one of those men for the men that follow me.

When I see guys who are being forced through the ringer in life and they are still calm and performing their priorties like loving their wife, not provoking their children, worshiping well, tithing, etc. I am encouraged to do the same. My life has been a walk in the park compared to some. And I see evidence of the faith in these men who have been challenged in incredible ways and are still strong. This encourages me to do the same.

You want to be mature? You want to qualify yourself to be considered as an elder? It starts by developing healthy relational habits long before the pressure of life demands the strength that these habits reinforce. Then, when in the pressure-cooker the habits hold up and your walk with God is stronger than ever.

Somewhere along in the preseason a group of football players never established these habits. Elders can't wait till game time, either, to form these habits.

How are your habits holding up?