Don’t you just wish you could take a pill and wake up tomorrow all spiritually mature and mirroring the attributes of Jesus?

Instead, you and I are told that we must persevere in our spiritual pursuits, practicing what we know will bring spiritual fruit to our lives.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Practice makes perfect.” Vince Lombardi (famed Green Bay Packers coach) added to that thought with his comment, “Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.” However you look at it, there is no improvement without meaningful practice.

That concept applies to spiritual formation as well. The slow and steady approach to becoming more like Christ requires that we do meaningful things over and over again. We don’t just pray once a week and call it quits. We don’t peruse a chapter in the New Testament and declare ourselves spiritually mature. We don’t fast from one meal and give ourselves a ribbon for Godliness.

Instead, we have to recognize that spiritual habits must consume our lives. And that focus is meant to be filled with joy not drudgery.

G. K. Chesterton (an English Christian apologist) asserted that great joy can be found in meaningful repetition if we can be patient and enjoy the moment. He says, “Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, ‘Do it again.’ And the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony.

But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to the sun and every evening, ‘Do it again’ to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike, it may be that God makes every daisy separately but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy, for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.”

So, as we embrace this new week, let’s be patient and display some genuine joy.  Let’s tell ourselves “Do it again.” Once again, let’s carve out space for quiet contemplative prayer. Once again let’s read His Word with a committed heart. Still again let’s continue to focus on the needs of others and keep finding ways to be in community with our spiritual brothers and sisters.

Spiritual formation is the result of good habits. And perfect practice makes perfect.