Friday, September 23, 2011

Want Balance? Apply Discipline!

Ephesians 4: 1-3 (The Message Bible)
In light of all this, here's what I want you to do. While I'm locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk-better yet, run!-on the road God called you to travel. I don't want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don't want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline-not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.

As many of us are, I am often challenged trying to balance the responsibilities of my life; Home/Family, Church, Work, Fun, Personal Health and well being. We are all grateful to God for His many Blessings, but also know that Blessings come with responsibility. We all desire to be a good steward of what God has entrusted to us, and we want to hear Him say Well Done.

However, the struggle we have balancing the components of our lives and the choices we have to make on a daily basis can leave us feeling stressed, confused, and even guilty when we have not met all the needs or requirements; in other words, when we can't seem to fit it all in or get it all done.

Over the years as I have read Proverbs 31, the biblical description of a Virtuous Woman, I've longed to really understand how she accomplished what she accomplished. Does this word describe various seasons of her life? Or did she do all those tasks listed at one time. Did she have help? If so, how much help? While I don't know all the answers, I am convinced that she really does exist, and there really is a way. In fact, during my most recent study of this word over the past month, I again asked God "how?" and He replied to me with one word. Discipline.

Now, my pastor would say, I just used a "curse word." Why? Discipline is one of those words that just causes us to squirm when we say it. It immediately conjures up thoughts of us having to do some things, repeatedly, that we just don't want to do. Nevertheless, I know that it was God that gave this answer, and as I meditated on this word and its meaning and application, I was absolutely convinced that the way to balance, progress, and completion - is by way of Discipline.


Here are some definitions of the word Discipline:
activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill;
behavior and order maintained by training and control;
to train oneself to do something in a controlled and habitual way.

Yes, there are a few other curse words within the definition, but we are all grown folks, I believe we can handle it and God says, it is something that we all need. From the definitions above, another word stuck out to me, the word Habitual, and the root being the word Habit. So often when we think of a habit, we immediately think of a "bad habit." Yet, all habits are not bad. In fact, the word habit in and of itself is neither good nor bad, it is the adjective that we attach to this word, that provides the context.

We all need to be disciplined and form good habits, across every area of our lives; and consistency is key. This is where prayer and accountability come in. We tend to take off running on a new goal, such as an exercise program, full steam ahead. Even though we cannot see all the benefits instantly, our body does immediately begin to notice and react to our new routine. Then, after just a few short weeks, our steam is gone, and we stop. We operate in fits and starts, rather than with consistency - thereby establishing a good habit and thus, completing our goal.

We can't get around Discipline - people of God. If we try, in the midst of all that we are doing we will find ourselves coming up short each time. We will continually be tired, stressed out, and with a grade of "Incomplete" before the Lord. Take time this week to find a starting point for working on those areas of your life where you know you lack discipline. You might even set a goal to form one new good habit, each month. Be careful not to overwhelm yourself or set yourself up for failure by trying to work on everything at one time, but pray and ask God where it is that you need to begin, ask Him for His help, and then receive and obey His instructions. Find an accountability partner; someone with whom you can share that area of your life that you are going to work on. Ask them to check in on you weekly, and then give them the permission they need to be able to speak truth and correction to you when needed. If you happen to agree to be someone else's accountability partner, don't forget to be an encouragement to them as well. They will need it. If this was not an area of difficulty in their life, they would not be asking you for help.

Today is a new day, God has given us another chance, let's show Him how grateful we are by working with Him to enact change in our life.


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