Articles
Voting for Christ
Voting for Christ
Brian Ketchem
I am sure that some people might look at the title of this article and groan, but I promise we are not talking about political voting. James Clear wrote a book called Atomic Habits. I am sure many of you have read it or at least heard of it. The book aims to help people improve their habits and thereby improve themselves. It is a book that I certainly recommend, and it has a lot of applications. I want to zero in on something he says to help people form good habits. "Every action you take is a vote for the person you wish to become."
The idea that Clear is setting up in this segment of his book centers around a mindset shift. He is trying to help his readers make mindful choices about their habits. He says everything you do is a vote for the person you are trying to be. Whenever you go for a jog, you vote for a healthy lifestyle. Every time you eat an entire pint of ice cream, you vote for the opposite. This mindfulness makes it easier to make positive choices and build good habits.
I love this idea, and it directly applies to our Christian walk. I have a vision of the person I want to be. I actually have more than that; I have a living, breathing person who I am trying to emulate. I want to be more like Jesus in every way. How do I accomplish that mission? I need to vote for Christ. If my actions are a vote for the person I want to become, and the person I want to become is Christ, then my actions need to vote for Christ.
Many will remember in the 90s and early 2000s the W.W.J.D. bracelets (or t-shirts, or whatever else you could find). They stood for "What Would Jesus Do?" This is a valid question! We have situations and choices every day in life that demand action. Each of these decision points is a place to cast your ballet. The way you decide should come down to what Jesus would do.
Here is the secret about those "votes." Each one is an incremental improvement of yourself. Suppose I chose every day for a year to be more like Christ. At the end of one year, I won't ever recognize the person I have become. So, when we think about becoming more Christ-like, we don't have to try to do it all at once. All I have to do is mindfully make one choice at a time. And if I continue to vote for Christ, it will be a short time before I start to look much more like him.
