Choosing Well: The Keys to Good StewardshipExemplo

Daily Habits

When we think about how we are doing as disciples of Jesus, it is tempting and easy to focus on our best moments, or our worst. When we think about the example we set for others, we are likely to think of the highlights, the moments “on stage”, the times when it was clear something important was going on.

But the big moments don’t happen in a vacuum. And how we act in those moments is partially a manifestation of who we are and how we live daily.

The “small” decisions we make — the way we treat strangers in innocuous situations, the way we respond to our spouse, the way we consistently move and live— are vitally important. Most of the examples we set are the result of behavior we are largely unaware of — subconscious action born out of the patterns and consistency of our everyday behavior.

As good stewards, we can “hack” this process by choosing the positive actions or attitudes we will engage in over and over, whether it is a good day or not, whether we feel like it or not. These repetitive behaviors and attitudes are called habits. The good news is that it doesn’t matter what habits we already practice; today we can choose to acquire new lifelong repetitive acts or mindsets that will position us for tomorrow and beyond.

We cannot wait for a “big” moment to suddenly show who we are. We must show it in the “small moments.” It is not an overnight process. Small moments are the key factors that produce our growth. Our daily decisions, the actions of each moment, daily build toward our big decisions. They reveal where we have placed our hope and Whom we serve.

Lord, we thank You that our lives are not made of only highlights of the good or the bad. Every moment we have spent doing what is right hasn’t escaped Your merciful eyes. Our daily attitudes, little by little, have amounted to something that maybe we can’t see or are aware of. Your Word says that someday we will know how we were known. In the meantime, give us the strength to carry on blessing others.