Creatures Of Habit: Study Sample

Study: The Hang-up of The Habit 

Building a consistent habit of Bible study is a challenge! It takes dedication to anchor ourselves in God’s Word every day. When we are forming a new habit, we may be tempted to make excuses that can jeopardize the patterns we are establishing in our spiritual life.

“I just don’t have time today.”

“I’m too busy at work.”

“Taking care of my family is too stressful.”

Let’s face it…if good habits were easy to form, we would all spend more time exercising and less time watching TV. The truth is that we all face hang-ups that can stand in the way of creating healthy habits. In the book of James, the author identifies one hang-up with studying God’s Word that is bound to affect us all.

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (James 1:22). 

Do. What. It. Says. 

That’s a pretty big hang-up! It is one thing to read the Bible consistently, but it doesn’t stop there. 

Godly thinking is important, but useless if it doesn’t lead you to godly living.  

The longer you maintain a habit of daily study, the more you will realize that these aren’t just words on a page. As the writer of Hebrews says, “the word of God is living and active” (Hebrews 4:12a). The words of scripture compel you to act, to take a step, to do something. One day you will read something that convicts your heart, and you must choose…Will you obey? Or will you turn away and pretend you never saw it? If you ignore that pull inside of you for long enough, the tension becomes too much to hold. The easiest way out is to stop reading. To break the habit. And there’s the hang-up.

The good news is that this is a hang-up that you can overcome with God’s power! When you take even one small step to live out what God is prompting you to do through his Word, you are changed! 

• How do you anticipate this hang-up affecting you?
• What is one thing from God’s Word that you can put into practice today?

Read from James 1:22-25 and Matthew 7:24-27 as you think about what it means to build a habit of reading his Word and putting it into practice.