I’m not sure where I first stumbled on You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power Of Habit by James K. A. Smith, but I am so grateful that I did. The book takes a very different angle than what is commonly considered as the path to becoming a more deeply devoted person of faith, and Smith’s writing style is both witty and profound. Think about the title for a moment. You are what you love…what you are giving your heart and your energy toward is shaping the kind of person you are. The habits you are cultivating, and your daily and weekly practices and rhythms are shaping what is most important to you and what kind of person you are becoming.
At its foundation, the book argues that the rhythms of our entire life are comprised of a variety of habits that shape our hearts, what we desire, and how we find and nurture fulfillment. Smith also presents in his text how information by itself does not do much to shape our hearts, our habits, and our worship. He cites numerous examples including that of the modern faith experience. It is not enough to educate or invest resources, but instead, if we want to display a different kind of life or love (whether love of God or love of others), then we need to develop habits that cultivate that love.
Smith argues that to worship is human—it is part of how and why we were made, but when the object of our worship goes awry, it is damaging to us as well as to the world around us. When we misunderstand the telos or goal for our lives or what constitutes “the good life” we can find ourselves in pursuit of any number of activities or outcomes, and there are a wide variety of industries spending incredible amounts of resources to convince us what the good life is comprised of—anything from the food and beverage we drink, the vehicle we drive, or the medicine we take all promise us the good life, and at the same time, they all fall short on delivering on that promise in the long-term.
If we are what we love, and love is a habit, then it is fundamentally important to learn what it is we truly love, what we were made for, and develop habits that help undo the false promises of ‘the good life’ that tend to lead us at best toward temporary pleasure and at length toward a severely misdirected goal. I believe that in moments of quiet when we turn off our devices, and the constant stream of messages that bombard us, we are able to, at least for a moment, acknowledge the pull these messages have on us, and see an alternate route toward ‘the good life’ and an ultimate goal for the limited window of time we have on this earth.
Although it has been several weeks since I read Smith’s book, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I had the added bonus of having Jamie read through it with me so we could discuss it and identify habits that can lead us away from our first love as well as begin to cultivate habits that will re-shape us to grow in our love for God and others. If you are looking for a book to explore the spiritual dimension of the power of habit and how habits are formed, rooted, and re-shaped, then You Are What You Love is a great book to pick up. It is my hope that Jamie and I will be able to apply the lessons of the book in a way that not only shapes our hearts to love what is good and honorable, but that we will be able to help Sylvia cultivate a healthy love for the same.