A little look back, a little individuality, a little dalliance on the side, a little side perk, a little stab at Number One—what’s the big deal! Why such divine heartlessness! Lot’s wife, Nadab and Abihu, Samson, Gehazi, Uzzah—sometimes we think that what they did was a one-time slip, a momentary weakness. God didn’t think that way, and neither should we—for our own good! Our six Old Testament friends were simply reacting as they had been programming themselves. We call those programs habits.

Habits are simply thoughts or acts frequently repeated. And habits repeated often enough form an etching in the neural pathways that we call character. Habits are our best friends. Who thinks about how to tie shoes or where to find "a" on the computer keyboard? "The power of self-restraint strengthens by exercise. That which at first seems difficult, by constant repetition grows easy, and right thoughts and actions become habitual" (Ellen G. White, Ministry of Healing, 491).

How are habits and decisions made? I am told that the brain operates on ten watts of power—performing more mathematical calculations than the world’s largest computers in just one-thousandth of a second. Each brain or nerve cell has many fibers called dendrites, which constantly receive all kinds of information. One long fiber called the axon transmits messages to neighboring cells. Between the axon and the dendrite of another cell is a tiny space called the synapse. On the end of the axon are tiny enlargements called boutons. Boutons secrete various chemicals that close the tiny gap, or synapse, between the axon’s bouton and the next cell. Along that connection goes the message into the next cell—to whatever muscle or organ needs stimulating.

Why do some axons have more boutons than others? Because that axon has been stimulated more than others. More stimulation, more boutons. More boutons, the easier it is for that same message to flow along the particular pathway that grows more boutons with each repetition, making it easier to repeat that same thought or act when we face that same situation the next time.

Our six Old Testament friends had quietly built boutons of materialism, lust, arrogance, self-will—perhaps, hardly noticeable to themselves and unknown to others. But facing some sudden surprise or spontaneous lure, the habit expresses itself. And voila! Habits do what comes naturally, good or bad.

What about changing bad habits? When we want to start saying "Yes" or "No," when we have been in the habit of saying "No" or "Yes," new brain pathways must be made by choosing a different response to old situations. Research tells us that we can change almost any habit in a matter of weeks. We are talking about how the brain supplies the GABA chemical secreted in the synapse that puts "on the brakes" and builds the habit of saying "No." And ACh, the "go for it" chemical, secreted when we want to say "Yes."

The more times we make a habit of saying "No" to a particular choice, that many more boutons are created to help us chemically to make a spontaneously, habitual choice. The same for a "Yes" habit. God has wired us to succeed, but we choose to fail. Only the Holy Spirit, the Eternal Energy of the universe can prompt us and aid us in making a life habit of saying "No" and "Yes" at the right times.

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