Book: Heart and Habit

At the beginning of the year I decided to do some casual reading on the subject of habits, which is a topic I had never given much thought. It is somewhat ironic that I’d never considered the role that habits play in my life, since habits are routine and patterned actions that we engage in with little thought. The Lord created us to be able to preform simple tasks without giving it much thought. From tying our shoes to driving to work, our brains are created to follow the personal patterns that we have developed through repeated behaviors. My interest in this subject is what initially drew me to Heart and Habits. I was especially interested to find a book on this subject that addressed the impact that addressed the impact of our habits on our hearts.

Greg Gifford is the associate professor of Biblical Counseling at The Master’s University in Santa Clarita, California. He is no stranger to studying the inner workings of the heart. He earned a PhD in Biblical Counseling from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, holds a Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling from The Master’s University, and a BA in Pastoral Ministry from Baptist Bible College. He is also no stranger to the powerful role of habits and routine. Before becoming a biblical counselor, Gifford served as a Captain in the United States Army from 2008-2012, where routines and habits were, no doubt, drilled into him.

In Heart and Habits, Gifford has shared the fruits of his extended research on the influencing role of habits. As he explains,

The over-arching purpose of this book is to help you understand the the heart as it informs your habits, so you can develop habits for the glory of God and the good of people. (18)

When Gifford refers to habits, he is “speaking of regular, frequent practices that seem almost second nature” (19). As Christians, we not only recognize the reality of habits, we also acknowledge that God has designed for our brains to develop habits. “God has designed people so that that can learn something with automaticity and perform that function with very little thought” (26). This is a benefit to us because “habits help us to act without much thought once we have acquired them. In fact, it is not a stretch to say that without habits, there would be no daily functioning” (26). This is quite a thought, and it reminds readers of the important role that habits play in our lives.

Gifford not only explains the nature of habits, he also explains the role that they play in God’s design of man. Specifically, he identifies two primary purposes for why God designed us with the ability to develop highly functional habits. First, “The glory of God is the primary reason for our habits. … The primary purpose of our habits is for the glory, valuing, and pleasure of God” (8-9). Additionally, “the secondary goal of habits is that people would be blessed by your habits” (9). Consistently, Gifford reminds his readers that “your habits aren’t about you. They’re about glorifying God and doing good to others. When you fully grasp that, everything that you do takes on a weight of significant meaning” (74). Although Gifford does not bring this out in any detail, habits also serve the valuable function of allowing us to practically function and accomplish task in God’s creation.

One of the key points of the book is that our habits will shape our desires (50). In other words, our habits can quickly become strong expectations and controlling cravings. Thus, “our desires will never change for good through self-indulgence or idleness, but through obeying God habitually” (54). On this point, it would have been helpful for Gifford to make a strong connection between the role that habits play in the shaping of inward desires, and the role that the ordinary means of grace play in the work of sanctification. God has ordained holy habits that graciously produce Christlike character as we walk in them by faith. This is a connection, between habits and the means of grace, that Gifford could have emphasized to the benefit of his readers.

Heart and Habits is a unique offering because it brings together two issues that we face everyday: our hearts and our habits. Gifford is probably right when he says, “there are no other Christian books focused solely on habit development” (129). While there may be other Christian titles that address the issue of habits, none that I am aware do so in a way that integrates the subject of the heart into subject of habit development. Gifford points out the role that habits play in our thought life, our relationships, and in our worship (or idolatry). What first grabbed my interest in this title—a book about habits and hearts—is what makes it a valuable read.

Greg E. Gifford. Heart and Habits: How we Change for Good. Kress Biblical Resources, 2021. 141 pp. (paperback), $12.99. Reviewed by Paul Shirley, Pastor of Grace Community Church, Wilmington, DE.