MINISTER'S MOMENT
"The seed of a good habit"
CHARLOTTE AUSTIN

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:5-8)

It takes forty thousand blooms to produce a single ounce of the attar of roses used to make expensive perfume. Godly character is a lot like this. To get it, we need thousands of good thoughts and noble deeds. To please the Lord and become stronger in the faith, we must develop holy habits.

On the other hand, each time we indulge in something we know is not good, we weaken our power to resist evil. Sinful attitudes and actions may have insignificant beginnings, but they gradually grow until the entire being is corrupted by their influence.

In Washington Irving's famous short story, the drunken Rip van Winkle excused every failure by saying, "I won't count this time!" He apparently thought he could put aside his misdeeds in this way and avoid their consequences, but his brain cells were still registering them and storing them up to be used against him when the next temptation arose.

Whether we like it or not, we are a composite of what we think and do. Every sinful thought, word, and deed is the seed of a bad habit. But the good news is that the opposite is also true. Every good thought, word, and deed is the seed of a good habit.

Lord, may everything I do and say today be the seed of a good habit. May I cultivate traits that will be fragrant and beautiful to You. Amen.
Rev. Charlotte Austin
McCary's Chapel United
Methodist Church