Your Habits Are Discipling You

Recorded live at CAFO Summit, Austin Ludwig and Callie Priest sit down with author, speaker, lawyer, and spiritual formation expert Justin Whitmel Earley to discuss a surprising truth: our habits are discipling us.

Drawing from his own experience of burnout, anxiety, and unhealthy work rhythms, Justin explains how everyday practices shape who we become. While many Christians focus on beliefs and worldview, Justin argues that our habits often have a greater influence on our hearts than we realize. The routines we repeat each day are quietly forming our loves, desires, and capacity to follow Jesus.

Throughout the conversation, Justin challenges listeners to think differently about technology, rest, physical health, community, and spiritual disciplines. Rather than seeing these practices as obligations, he presents them as gifts that help us experience God’s grace and become people capable of sustaining love for others.

For foster and adoptive families, pastors, and ministry leaders, this conversation offers an especially timely reminder: caring for vulnerable children requires spiritual, emotional, and physical endurance. Healthy habits are not about self-improvement or appearance. They are about becoming the kind of people who can faithfully love others over the long haul.

Ultimately, this episode invites listeners to examine the ordinary rhythms that shape their lives and to embrace habits that cultivate peace, presence, resilience, and deeper communion with Christ.

9:23 | What It Means to Be Distinct From the World

11:10 | Your Phone Is Discipling You

12:00 | Why Loving Others Requires Spiritual Strength

16:31 | When Our Bodies Contradict the Peace We Preach

20:16 | Caring for Your Body for the Sake of Love

25:02 | The Practice of “Scripture Before Phone”

36:03 | Learning to Lament While Holding Onto Hope