One of the most difficult things to watch in ministry is someone losing their enthusiasm. It happens all the time in one way or another. A person goes to a conference, and they vow to change their life on the final night only to return home and back to the normal routine with little follow through. It happens when teenagers go to a big week like Christ in Youth (CIY) or camp. They get all fired up for God and return home where their excitement fizzles into fond memories of that time they felt close to God. Often people come up to me after a worship program and tell me how the sermon touched their lives, and they are committed to change, only to see them fail in this quest for personal transformation. The most painful is to watch people accept Jesus and be baptized than to observe them quit the Church in less than six months. Through the years I have watched numerous believers have a week or a month of exciting, life-changing faith only to see them slide back into a life of mediocrity and distance from God.

Does any of this sound like your journey of faith? Has it been a long walk with some high points of emotion along the way? If this sounds like your story let me encourage you by saying you are not alone. There are people who have experienced this since the beginning of faith.

Also, I want to challenge you to focus on a daily routine. The people who have a healthy and vibrant faith month after month and year after year are not those who jump from one spiritual high to the next. They are the people who develop a regular routine of spiritual behavior. They set aside time every day to read their Bible, to pray, to reflect or meditate, develop deep Christian relationships, to serve others and to worship. Honestly, they do the same old boring routine that sounds so monotonous to most of us. Yet, real transformation happens in those repeated actions that last beyond big moments.

One powerful example comes from weight loss. Seeing someone lose a huge amount of weight is exciting. The hard truth is that most people who lose weight they will eventually regain it along with 20 percent more. The problem is they are only focused for a time, and they have no daily habits that sustain long-term weight loss. They bounce up and down like a yo-yo with no sense of balance.

Think of healthy spiritual growth like healthy physical living. You need a commitment to doing the same things over and over. Your planned regular actions lead to maximum results. The same thing that is true physically is also true spiritually.

So my question for today for those who want to grow in their faith is simply, “What is your plan of action to maintain a regular habit of growth.” The kingdom of God is not for those who have moments of excitement but no follow through; it is for those whose routine is designed for long-term growth.