We all want a better life. There is something we want to see improvement and growth. It may be a physical goal. We want to lose weight or gain muscles. It may be improving our relationship with our spouse or kids. It may be growing in our skills with work. Whatever it is, there is something that we want to see change or get better.
The issue that many of us face is that we want those results instantaneously. We want to see how our one action results in radical life change. We want to take one pill to make everything better. We know that life changes happen in a two-hour movie and think it can happen for us within days. It usually never does.
There is no silver bullet to transformation. No button makes everything better. There is no magical way that gives you the secrets to life. For most people, change is slow and incremental. The faster the fix, the faster the fail.
In Atomic Habits, James Clear shares the story of the British cycling team. In 1908, British riders won a single gold medal in the Olympics. However, 100 years later, they would be mediocre. They had such a bad reputation that bike manufacturers did not sell the British team their bikes. They were afraid that it would hurt their bike sales. In 2003, the British cycling team made a change. They hired Dave Brailsford to take over the group. He had a straightforward strategy to transform the team. He called it the “aggregation of marginal gains.” It’s the idea of making small and incremental changes. He argued that if you could improve every aspect of the biking experience by one percent, then you’ll have a great outcome.
The British cycle team made minor adjustments. They made more comfortable bike seats and rubbed alcohol on the wheels for better grip. They also tested the fabrics worn by the cyclist to see which one produced better results. They used science to understand better how the body responded to workouts for optimal performance. They looked at all areas for that small gain. They hired a surgeon to teach them how to wash their hands better. This was to reduce the chances of sickness. They also tested different pillows to see which produced better rest and sleep. There were hundreds of small changes and improvements that the team made.
After five years of taking over the team, the British cycling team radically transformed. They dominated the Beijing Olympics in 2008. That same year, they won the most prestigious cycling race, Tour De France, for the first time. They won that race four more times. They would continue to dominate cycling internationally from 2007 to 2017.
It took five years to dominate cycling. The minor improvements were not noticeable, but over the long term, they were meaningful and effective. Math also shows how improving one percent every day for one year translates to significant growth. You become 37 times more effective when you make one percent improvement every day for one year. The opposite is true too. If you get one percent worse every day for one year, then you decline to nearly zero.
Daily habits are the key to making those one percent improvements. James Clear shares, “Success is the product of daily habits– not once in a lifetime transformations.” Most people think that transformations happen from big moments and decisions. The reality is that it happens from daily habits over time.
This is a spiritual principle that God has taught in the Bible. Paul teaches this in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.
24 Don’t you realize that in a race, everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others, I might be disqualified.
Paul uses the race metaphor for our spiritual lives. We are all running a spiritual race. If you want to win the godly race, then you need to train. Training happens when you run every step with purpose. That means having good daily habits that lead to spiritual growth. Paul focuses on winning the future prize by focusing on his daily routines. That requires discipline and training. You put the practice in now, so you are ready for the game or race later.
The spiritual race we run is not a sprint or even a marathon. Those are too short. Life is more like the Self-Transcendence 3100-mile race. It is the world’s longest certified race, and the race can’t finish it in one day. It takes weeks for a runner to complete. They have 52 days to complete the race and can run from 6 am to midnight. That comes out to be an average of 59.62 miles a day to complete the race. You can only finish the race when you make good decisions every day in training. The same is true in our spiritual run. We can only complete when we start with good and wise choices and habits.
What does that mean for us? It means that God does not expect instant and perfect transformation from us. Our salvation happens in a moment, but our sanctification occurs over a lifetime. We experience perfect salvation when we make that decision, but becoming like Christ takes a lifelong journey. We get in trouble when we reverse the two. We may question our salvation and wonder if we will get into heaven. The consequence of that is that we live in fear and anxiety constantly, so we accept Jesus into our lives every Easter. On the other hand, we think our sanctification happens in a moment after our salvation. We believe we are new after we make that life-changing decision. We believe our bad habits and sins are gone, and we need to be perfect. When that doesn’t happen, we get frustrated, upset, or question our faith. Becoming more like Christ is a long term journey. God changes us slowly and when we make those good habits.
Here are some ways to make one percent of spiritual growth:
- Read one verse a day. Reading the whole Bible in a year sounds daunting even for pastors. Try reading one verse a day. Start with that. You may find that you may get more out of the Bible from that one verse than reading several chapters a day.
- Pray one sentence. God doesn’t need long, run-on sentences. He needs an open heart. A straightforward sentence with God is more potent than an hour-long repetitive prayer to God.
- Give a small percentage of your income. 10 percent sounds too much for many. Start with what you give to God can right now. It may mean ten-dollar every Sunday. It may mean one percent of your income. Start someplace and do it consistently.
- Attend church weekly. This one may seem impossible. But spending one hour of your 168 hour week comes out to only .5 percent of your time that week. When you only attend once a month, you only spend .1 percent of your time with God that month. Make going to church regularly a habit.
When we do this, we see not just our spiritual life change, but every part of our lives change. God gives us wisdom and victory when we seek him. When we put God first, God takes care of every part of our life. We will experience success.
For lack of guidance, a nation falls but victory is won through many advisers.
Proverbs 11:14
God wants us to experience victory. He wants to show you a breakthrough that you have been waiting for. It just means making good daily habits today. That one percent improvement allows God to transform your life. We will have a better life and be better in life when we put God first and foremost.
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