"For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful; but afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." ~ Hebrews 12:11
I AM DISCIPLINED AND SELF-CONTROLLED!
This is fine line between giving up and deciding to keep on, keeping on. I have been on the giving up side and it is scary, but thank God I am now on the "keep on, keeping on" side.
Wishing doesn't accomplish your goals, actions do. I switched sides when I finally got to the point where I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. Complaining was exhausting.....
I am now amazed at the people who complain about their lives and truly think they have no power to fix it.
"I wish I wasn't so tired." Do you go to bed at a decent time or are you up until 2 a.m?
"I wish I could lose this weight." Do you exercise and eat healthy or do you binge on cookies and lie around on the couch?
"I wish I could do this." Do you actually "try" or do you not even attempt it?
"I wish I could get out of debt." Do you save, not spend frivolously and only buy needs, or do you convince yourself that you "need" another pair of black shoes because they are "on sale?"
"I wish my children would behave." Do you take the time to have a relationship with your children and do the hard work of disciplining them, or are they raising themselves because you're out dating?
All success requires time and effort and radical change takes place slowly and requires much effort. You can go far beyond where you think your abilities end. When you run out of your strength, God is ready to give us His, if we ask for it.
Confronting issues is the only way to get on the victorious side of them.
There is someone I know, we'll call her Pam, who has made one mistake after another, negatively affecting her life. She continues to complain about her circumstances and doesn't seem to see the connection between her poor choices and the negative results in her life.
For instance, Pam works a minimum wage job and is having trouble paying her bills each month. Recently, she just adopted, not one, but two dogs. She does not see that this was probably not the best time to take in pets. She also bought a $200 crimper/curling iron.....really? You can't pay your bills, but this curling iron was a necessity? How about the fact that her teenage daughter, we'll call her, Lily, has moved out of the house and in with her boyfriend, Bobby, and wants Pam to keep paying her cell phone and car insurance bills. Pam is swayed by the crocodile tears and thinks she has no recourse, but to let this girl live with her boyfriend.
Pam's life is one drama after another, but she doesn't see that she could have control if she just made better choices.
I can hear her now...."It's just so hard!" First of all, we were never promised a life that would be easy and second, it's a lot easier to do what you need to do now, then deal with the aftereffects of the easier, but poorer choices later.
Joyce says, "Satan often works through or takes advantage of our weaknesses at the precise time God is trying to promote us or lead us to take a step of faith that will advance His kingdom or move us closer to fulfilling our destinies. God gives us options, but He wants us to do the choosing. To make a right and wise choice means we will probably have to discipline ourselves to do something we don't feel like doing, but know is best."
People cannot change unless they face the truth about where they are, so all excuses have to cease and they must take responsibility in all area of their lives.
Overlooking things is much easier then dealing with them, but I know that if I deal with the problem now the future will be much easier.
No comments:
Post a Comment