The Habit of Caring
Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3:14-18
Actions become habits and habits are hard to break, so decide what you want to be doing at the action stage.
Everything you do shapes who you are. When you do something that brings you fulfillment and joy, like picking flowers or eating a chocolate, you often want to do it again. When you do something you fear or sadness, like riding a rollercoaster or watching a scary movie, you tend to think, that wasn’t so bad—after all, you didn’t die. You choose to do and to repeat doing the things that bring the emotions you want into your life. The things you do day by day become the things that you do diligently. You have to decide what you want to be doing while you are in the doing stage of habits (i.e. before the steadfast stage).
You don’t need an advanced degree to care for someone you love.
As you choose what you do day by day, you can choose to make love and caring for others a priority for you. You can let love drive you caring for others, and when you care for others in love, you will grow in the grace that God has for you. The habit of caring for others transforms you into a more selfless person. It doesn’t matter how much you know about caring for others if you don’t get out there and actually do the caring. And as you actively care for others, you will learn what works and doesn’t work in the process—more than any advanced degree could teach you.
The ten commandments are a sandwich.
The first commandment is to not have any other gods before the Lord God. If you keep the first commandment, you will naturally keep the honoring God commandments—1–4—because you Love God. The last commandment is to not covet. I you keep the last commandment, you will do all the honoring man commandments—1–4—because you won’t murder, steal, etc. if you don’t want what is not yours. The habits of loving God and not grasping for things that are not yours create in you long-suffering as you learn to live your life for God and others instead of for yourself. As you continue performing the little actions of righteous living, you slowly form the habits that will shape who you are. Becoming a God-honoring, caring person by forming the habits you want to at the action stage.