The Power to Change: Mastering the Habits That Matter Most

by Craig Groeschel

getting the life you want will be the result of countless seemingly small decisions, done consistently over time.

Nehemiah began with prayer, which is the right place to start. When you don’t know what to do, go to the one who does.

The same is true for us. We will change our lives one small habit at a time. I’ll say it again: getting the life you want will be the result of countless seemingly small decisions, done consistently over time.

Nehemiah knew a truth we need to understand: we cannot consistently continue to do the right things, over the long haul, in our own power. We need power we don’t possess. We need God’s power. We need to access God’s power.

Your goal is not perfection, it’s progress.

I believe you will see significant change in your life if you consistently (remember, not perfectly, consistently) do your strategic habit.

Writing three things you’re thankful for in a gratitude journal at the end of every day?

For years psychologists told us that a habit could be formed in just twenty-one days. Recent studies have refuted that finding, reporting that, for the average person, it takes sixty-six days to create a lasting habit.44

I know this: Each day, the effect will seem inconsequential. You may not see any difference at first. But change is happening. You are changing your life. You’re doing it one brick at a time. That’s what Nehemiah would say. Brick by brick.

Principle 20 We need a power we don’t possess. Value progress over perfection. “LORD, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night.” —Nehemiah 1:5–6

You will harvest what you plant. You will get out what you put in. Your outcomes will be determined by your inputs. The results of your life will be based on the decisions you make, the habits you stake, and the habits you break.

Every. Single. Time. You reap what you sow. True in agriculture. True in life. If you plant good habits, you’ll get good outcomes. If you plant bad habits, don’t be deceived and expect good outcomes.

If you plant good habits, you’ll get good outcomes. If you plant bad habits, don’t be deceived and expect good outcomes.

If you plant good habits, you’ll get good outcomes. If you plant bad habits, don’t expect good outcomes. You reap what you sow.

Principle 21 If you don’t like what you’re reaping, change what you’re sowing. If you don’t like the harvest, change the seed. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. —Galatians 6:7–8 NLT

Albert Einstein was supposed to have said, “The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest.”46

A small difference each day adds up and multiplies over time.

Making a wise decision or doing something good for God today may feel insignificant. But keep doing it. You have no idea the significance it could grow to have in the future.

What you do occasionally does not make a difference. What you do consistently makes all the difference.

Principle 22 You reap more than you sow. A small change can change everything. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. —Matthew 25:29 NLT

That’s why we’re encouraged not to become weary or give up. You’re in one season, and if you don’t quit, one day you are going to wake up in a new season. And you will reap a harvest. You’ll realize your hard work, your discipline, your sacrifices, and your faithfulness were never wasted. Your efforts were just being stored up.

What if you give up and stop praying for your prodigal child at 211 degrees and the next day would have been the boiling point—the breakthrough?

No. “This work was not wasted,” Clear writes, “It was simply being stored.”

Luck did not happen. What happened was you started doing consistently what you used to do occasionally. And consistency made all the difference. One brick at a time.

You will reap a harvest if you don’t give up.

But only if you don’t quit. You will reap a harvest if you don’t give up. So don’t give up: Believing Praying Sharing your faith Fighting to stay pure Getting up early Saying “I love you” Asking Walking forward Having faith that God will free you from addiction Studying Forgiving Climbing out of debt Sacrificing Choosing what you want most over what you want now

Keep doing it. Consistently. Day after day. One right decision at a time. Don’t judge the success of each day by what you reap. Judge success by the seeds you sow. Did you do the right things? Did you honor God? Did you take a step in the right direction? You don’t become successful when you achieve the goal in the future. You are successful when you do your strategic habit today. Success is doing it consistently instead of occasionally. You won’t see the results you want today. Be patient. You’ve planted the right seeds. The harvest will come.

It won’t be because you had the best intentions or high hopes but because your actions determined your direction. Your habits changed you. Day after day, you shaped your life by doing the right small things. They added up and multiplied, accumulated and compounded, and turned you into the person you’re going to be in ten years. I can predict it. ...

Principle 23 You will reap a harvest if you don’t give up. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. —Psalm 1:3 NLT

In his book Restore, my good friend and editor Vince Antonucci paraphrases what Paul wrote. His “updated” and humorous version is the way we might express it today: I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. I tell myself not to yell at my kids, then I hear someone yelling at my kids, and I realize it’s me. There’s something wrong inside of me that leads me to do what I don’t want to do. I tell myself, “Whatever happens, I will not deviate from my diet. I promise I will not make any exceptions!” Then I find a piece of pizza in my mouth. What a miserable person I am. I am a slave to pizza! As I try to understand this power that makes me a slave to sin, I suddenly have a realization—I am now eating brownies! I am a slave to pizza and brownies! I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do right, there’s always something wrong for me to look at on the Internet. I don’t want to look, but there’s something in me that does it anyway. When I am about to tell my wife that she’s just like her mother, I know what I am about to do is wrong. That’s why I decide not to tell my wife she’s just like her mother. Then I find my mouth opening and words coming out. I hear those words. They sound like . . . “You are just like your mother.” It is sin living in me that does that. Who will free me from this life dominated by the dumb things me keeps doing? One thing me knows for sure: it’s not gonna be me!55

Why was Paul stuck? Why are we stuck? Why don’t we make changes that last? So far, we’ve learned it can be because: We put do before who. We try instead of train. We hope for change instead of starting (and stopping) the right (and wrong) habits. We do occasionally what we should do consistently.

But there’s another reason. It’s big. Here it is: we stay stuck because we rely on willpower instead of God’s power.

willpower doesn’t work. We think it does, but it doesn’t. We think we can, but we can’t. Willpower is like a muscle. If you work it too hard, it becomes fatigued, and what power is there starts to wane.

Willpower is a limited resource. Willpower wilts. Willpower doesn’t work. Still, we try. Because we’re desperate to change. We grit our teeth and give it our all.

Principle 24 You think you can, but you can’t. I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. —Romans 7:21–23 NLT

Paul answered his own question with his next sentence in verse 25: “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord” (NLT). Paul understood, I can’t get myself unstuck, so I need a power I don’t possess. The power he found was Jesus. Paul discovered, I can’t. But God can.

“Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” It was all God. God’s power. The good news is that the same power that helped Paul and helped me is available to you. Actually, this is more accurate: the same power that got Jesus out of a grave, resurrected from death to life, is available to you.

The same power that got Jesus out of a grave, resurrected from death to life, is available to you.

God loves us in spite of us, not because of us. He loves us not because of what we do but because of who he is.

Paul then described God’s grace. Grace means to get the opposite of what you deserve. God loves us in spite of us, not because of us. He loves us not because of what we do but because of who he is. When we’re at our worst, God’s love is at its best.

Paul wrote that because of God’s grace, you have been “saved.” Saved is a verb. You can write a verb in past, present, future, or perfect tense. Past tense sp...

Present tense describes something happening right now. Future tense refers to something that will happen eventually but hasn’t yet. Perfect tense speaks of something that has happened in the past, is still happening in the present, and will continue in the future. It draws atten...

Paul wrote “saved” in perfect tense! You were saved by God’s grace in the past, but the effect is still happening. His grace is always going to impact your life. God will continue giving you new life ...

You never have to feel defeated. You can never give up. Because God didn’t just save you. He saves you. He is constantly saving you. You can’t, but God c...

Principle 25 You can’t, but God can. And God will, if you turn to his power. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) —Ephesians 2:4–5 NLT

At the end of my power, I discover God’s power.

Paul also wrote about the “flesh.” The Greek word translated “flesh” is sarx, used 149 times in the New Testament.57 It doesn’t mean your skin. Sarx refers to your human nature, your natural self with its weaknesses and sinful desires. That’s why “the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit.”

The Greek word translated “walk” is peripateo, a present-tense verb. That means you keep doing it; walking by the Spirit is something you can never stop doing, like breathing or preparing for the zombie apocalypse.

Walking by the Spirit is a habitual way of life.

Principle 26 Willpower doesn’t work, but God’s power does, and his power is: Available Accessible Active Abundant So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. —Galatians 5:16–17