11 Oct 2026 5 min read sermons

When God Becomes Your Habit

Knowing church culture won't change a heart. Pastor Josh explores Romans 12 and the small daily habits that make room for God to renew our minds.

If we want to climb a mountain, we need to train for it. As Pastor Josh joked, wandering around hoping a spider will bite us and turn us into Spider-Man is a different plan altogether. Yet we can approach following Jesus that way, waiting for one powerful experience to do what a life with him is meant to do.

Beyond church habits

We can spend years learning how to fit into church. We know the songs and when to pray; some of us recognise the Bible passage before anyone finishes reading it. Meanwhile, anger or resentment can settle comfortably inside us, and we stop noticing how long we have refused to forgive someone. We can become familiar with Christianity while our hearts remain largely untouched by Christ.

Romans 12:1-2 calls us to be transformed through the renewal of our minds. God cares about the person underneath the familiar language and Sunday routine. He wants us to know his peace and joy, to experience the full life he offers.

We begin with his mercy. Jesus has already done for us what we could never achieve through religious effort. We follow because we are accepted. A book or course cannot become our saviour. The people helping us follow Jesus cannot take his place, either.

Knowing the church routine gives us no reason to dodge the question: are we becoming more forgiving? Is kindness growing where bitterness used to feel natural?

Renewing our minds

Renewal reaches further than how much we know. Following Jesus does not depend on being clever or having an excellent memory. We already have extraordinary access to knowledge, with AI able to store and process what we cannot. Knowing more has hardly removed our capacity to hurt one another.

The mind being renewed includes our worldview, values and priorities. Our worldview shapes how we understand life: who made us, what has gone wrong, what Jesus has done, and where our hope belongs. Those beliefs affect what we treasure and what gets first place.

In Matthew 6, Jesus speaks about serving God or money before addressing anxiety and telling us to seek God's kingdom first. What we put first reveals what we believe will take care of us. A struggle to follow Jesus may go deeper than a neglected Bible-reading plan; we may still be learning to trust God with something we value deeply.

We can bring that honestly to him. The Holy Spirit works in our hearts and minds; we need his help with the beliefs behind our habits as well as the habits themselves.

Will worship

A fresh burst of determination can feel like the answer. We will pray for an hour a day and read ten chapters of the Bible. We'll finally become the Christian we should have been years ago. Then our resolve weakens, and we turn on ourselves.

Colossians 2 challenges that approach. Verse 23 describes self-made religion that looks wise yet cannot stop the indulgence of the flesh. The phrase will worship exposes an uncomfortable possibility: we can put our confidence in our own determination. That leaves some of us ashamed of our weakness and others proud of our discipline. Neither response tells us whether we are becoming like Jesus.

Mark of discipleship is love.

We cannot transform ourselves by willpower. Paul's instruction to train for godliness gives us something practical to do with our desire to grow. We can build practices that place us before God and give us opportunities to learn his ways, trusting him to change us.

Take the gym with you

Training affects the rest of the day. Someone working towards greater fitness watches what they eat. They get enough sleep and drink water; the work at the gym starts affecting choices back at home.

Following Jesus involves our whole life too. We can leave a camp inspired and still spend the rest of the week as though nothing happened. Our ordinary routines keep shaping us long after the service finishes.

Start with a spiritual formation audit: write down what you actually do.

What do you reach for first in the morning, without any deliberate decision? Notice the stories about happiness you are absorbing. Write down your emotional defaults too. Do you expect disappointment or keep looking for approval? You might be holding somebody else responsible for your happiness. Be honest without becoming harsh or judgmental. God already knows what is there, and you can begin by acknowledging it.

Talk it through with someone you trust, including your house church shepherd. Life with other people gives us somewhere to practise kindness and forgiveness. If we avoid everyone, we miss those opportunities.

Small victories every day

Have a small victory every day.

We need a starting point we can actually manage. A dramatic promise is easy to make while we feel inspired. Choose something small enough to do again tomorrow, even when today's enthusiasm has worn off.

For a ten-kilometre goal by the end of the year, Pastor Josh's daily commitment is to get one hundred metres away from home. He has already managed five kilometres with Yoonah, though he jokes that he was walking fast while she ran. Getting out the door is something he can do every day. One hundred metres might become two hundred, then three hundred.

Five undistracted minutes thinking about God is a small enough place to begin. Yoonah was concerned people might worry that their pastor only thought about God for five minutes. Of course he spends longer than that: God is his boss and pays his cheque.

An achievable habit gives us somewhere to start again when we fail. As God becomes the one we naturally turn towards, our lives can be progressively formed in Christ-likeness.

Pay attention to where you place yourself, too. Being honest about temptation means recognising the influences we need boundaries around. We do not have to prove how strong we are by continually putting ourselves where we know we are vulnerable. We can choose our influences, including the company we keep and the daily practices that help us follow Jesus. Small decisions about where we go and how we spend our time shape the life we are living.

Challenge: two minutes

Take two minutes now. Put down the distractions and give God your attention. Set aside your frustrations with your husband or wife, or whatever happened at work. Put down the list of what you feel you should have achieved. Be honest with God about you.

Consider who you are becoming as you follow Jesus. Is there more joy in your life? Are you more hospitable, more loving? Bring him the places where you feel stuck, as well as your desire to grow.

You can come at your own pace. If walking is what you can manage today, begin there. God is inviting you into his presence now.

Then do the audit this week and choose one small practice with a real place in your day. Ask someone you trust to pray for you, and pray for them too. We need one another on this journey, including when we feel weak or find ourselves struggling with the same old habits. We can ask the Holy Spirit to help us become people who naturally turn towards God.