Book Review: Atomic Habits

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." - Romans 12:2 (ESV)

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear is being highlighted here on The Relentless Fight because it could be used to equip you in the detailed practicals of sanctification. Mind you, it's a thoroughly secular book, there's no mention of the Bible or the gospel or repentance. And yet, just like a book on economics or medicine or architecture, it's a powerful tool when we redeem it through the lens of the Scriptures. When we start with the power of the gospel, and the goal of becoming like Christ, using these tools to create godly habits or stop sinful habits is not only effective, but glorifying to God. 

The backbone of Atomic Habits is what James Clear calls The Habit Loop (pages 46-52 from the book). He outlines this mental model with four parts to any habit (good or bad): 

Cue ---> Craving ---> Response ---> Reward. 

The cue is anything that prompts our desire, which leads to our action. Because the desire is fulfilled by the action, it feels satisfying, and reinforces the whole process. When this is repeated again and again, it becomes a habit, and is quickly ingrained in our lives. 

Here's a (sinful) example: You're feeling tired after a long week (cue), you want some rest and comfort (craving), so you look at porn (response), and experience a huge hit of dopamine (reward). Do that a few weeks, and you've got a life-dominating habit that's extremely hard to break. James 1:14-15 says it like this, "But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death." Jesus warns about the trap that habitual sin brings in John 8:34, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin." Ben Stuart summarizes it well, "What you think about, will be what you care about. And what you care about, you will chase." 

But the same is true of good habits. Consider this (godly) example: You wake up in the morning (cue), you want to start the day focused on Christ (craving), so you read the Word and pray for 1 hour (response), and your joy in salvation is stirred once again (reward). Do that a few weeks, and you've got a life-transforming habit that will lead to a life of godliness and spiritual fruit. Psalm 1:2 speaks of the righteous man, "but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night."

By understanding this pattern of human behavior, we can get insight into why and how we act, and therefore choose wisely what we feed and what we starve. The Bible uses the language of put off and put on. Ephesians 4 and Colossians 3 call us to put off the old self with our sins (bad habits) and to put on the new man in Christ (good habits). 

From this simple four-stage model for habits, James Clear has created The Four Laws of Behavior Change (page 53 from the book) which restates the four steps in these imperatives:

1. Make it obvious 

2. Make it attractive 

3. Make it easy 

4. Make it satisfying. 

In a sinful world, with sin dwelling in our hearts, and Satan's temptation, far too often sin is right in front of us (obvious), it looks great and we want it (attractive), it's almost effortless to do (easy), and in the moment it feels like it delivers on its promises (satisfying). That's why Romans 13:14 instructs us, "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires." Cut off the supply chain! Don't provide opportunity or resources for your sin. 

Taking this four-part model, applied to fighting sin, here is how to sabotage the process at each step: 

1. Make Sin Avoidable: What's the cue? Kill it. Is it a place? Stay away. Is it an app? Delete it. Do whatever you can to avoid even the awareness of temptation and sin. Make it hidden and turned off, locked up, as the old adage goes, "out of sight, out of mind." Proverbs 4:14-15 instructs us, "Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on." Don't underestimate your sin, thinking you'll be able to resist it. It's so much wiser to stop the fight before it starts. Flee! 

2. Make Sin Ugly: Memorize Scripture that speaks of the dangers of sin, like Galatians 6:7-8a, "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption..." Think about the consequences. Remember the guilt and shame that will surely come after the fleeting pleasure of sin. John Owen advises in The Mortification of Sin, "Do you find your corruption to begin to entangle your thoughts? Rise up with all your strength against it, with no less indignation than if it had fully accomplished what it aims at." (page 110)

3. Make Sin Difficult: Create obstacles that prevent you from acting out your sin. Get help from other Christians to interfere with your foolishness. Remove access by deleting apps, blocking websites, canceling subscriptions, and throwing things away. Be like Joseph in Genesis 39:10, "And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her."

4. Make Sin Painful: If you do indeed sin, then what can you do after the failure to repent and experience the pain of your sin? Sin always brings suffering, but often that suffering comes much later. What might be an immediate consequence? How can you introduce accountability? Paul Worcester gives one example here,  "I told my Dad that each time I gave into temptation I would give our Church $100!" 

That's putting off, the defensive fight. The Scripture likewise calls us to put on, the offensive fight. We must cultivate good habits like remembering the gospel, and relentless prayer. Let's break down the four steps with an example of a good habit that many Christians struggle with... daily Bible reading:

1. Plan for the Bible: Use the tool of "implementation intention" by writing out, "I will [ACTION] at [TIME] in [LOCATION]." Which might look like, "I will read one chapter of the Bible at 8am everyday at my breakfast table." Ben Stuart says in this video, you need "a time, a place, and a plan." As leadership gurus, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." 

2. Enjoy the Bible: Do you like drinking coffee? Drink it while you read. Do you like going for a run? Listen to an audio Bible while you exercise. Do you like friends? Consider partnering up in the same Bible reading plan. But those are just earthly enjoyments. What about the spiritual benefits? Remind yourself of the mind-blowing rewards of the Scripture, like it says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." Do you want to be equipped? Doesn't that promise stir your desire to read the Word? 

3. Make Bible reading EASY: Buy a Bible that you like reading (translation, weight, margins, even the color of the cover).  Put your Bible on your reading chair. Have your reading plan printed out and bookmarked on the next day's reading. Make the process as smooth as possible. If Satan is attacking you, trying to eat you, do what you can to defend against him! Identify whatever obstacles you are feeling and do what you can to eliminate those barriers. That probably means putting your smartphone in another room to minimize distraction.

4. Make Bible reading fun: Track your reading progress, perhaps with little x's on day squares on your reading plan (habit tracking). Eat a piece of candy for every chapter you finish. Reward yourself for streaks of 3 days in a row, 10 days in a row, or for finish lines like completing the Pentateuch. Spiritually, as you are increasingly satisfied in the morning with the steadfast love of the Lord, you will begin to love reading the Word simply for the Word itself. You will fall in love with the Author of the Word. You will be amazed at the simple fact: God wrote a book.

You might think these are worldly strategies, and we should read the Bible for more godly reasons? Maybe you object to these as fleshly tricks, as mere human precepts? But as people have studied people for centuries, they've discovered some pretty common patterns regarding human behavior. If these things are true, and they really work... then why not harness their power to kill sin and nurture righteousness? Why not apply the biblical command of "put off, put on" with some practical steps? Why not leverage these insights for greater holiness and enjoyment of Christ? 

That being said, your motivation for reading the Bible shouldn't be chocolate snacks, so let's land more firmly on those godly reasons. Let us pray that God gives us a craving for Him like in Psalm 63:1, "O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water." Let us pray that God empowers our obedience like in Colossians 1:10 to "walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God..." Let us remember the superior joy found only in Jesus. Nothing satisfies like the Lord! Everything else is a broken cistern. Psalm 16:11 says, "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." Let us fight to believe that Jesus is Better! 

Love and faith will drive your activity of Bible reading, prayer, and walking with the Spirit. Love for Jesus drives obedience, as He says in John 14:15, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." If we believe that God is satisfying, that will drive our pursuit of him, as Hebrews 11:6 says, "And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." 

So let us fight to remember the gospel. Nothing else gives us joy like the gospel! The only reason we are able to enjoy the presence of God is because of the reconciliation offered to us by the Cross of Christ. Leverage these laws of behavior change from Atomic Habits for your greater joy in Jesus! Get the book, read it, and apply it to your Christian life for God's glory. 

All Scripture quotations are from the The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.