No worthwhile achievement comes without effort, without sacrifice or without courage. People and forces will try to stop you from achieving your goal. You are at war.
What is the enemy? It can be summarized as “The Flesh” but contains many different elements.
v Your heredity. The genes you have inherited from your parents have shaped a lot of your characteristics. You might be tempted to say, “I am lazy, that’s just how I was born” or “I am not a tidy person. A leopard can’t change his spots.” You might even blame your parents – “I’ve got my Dad’s bad temper”
v Your past. These are the experiences and decisions in the past that have shaped what you now are. Your early circumstances, your level in society, the advantages and disadvantages you may have had. It includes your training, the example set by your parents, their mistakes, your mistakes. You are a product of the decisions you have made. “I had a bad start in life. My Dad left us when I was little and my Mom turned to alcohol. What chance do I have?”
v Your human nature which is more commonly called “the Flesh” in the Bible. You will recognize this human nature by the following characteristics. It would rather stay in bed than get up early and pray. It would rather chuck the paper on the floor than pick it up and put it in the dustbin. It would rather be brought coffee in bed than make coffee for somebody else. It would rather eat chocolate than apply the discipline of dieting. It would rather watch TV than study. It hates being told what to do, it resists discipline and does what it feels like.
Fortunately you do have various weapons at your disposal.
v
v
v
v
v
v
v Devine help. You are made in God’s image and you do not even imagine the capabilities He has built into you. If you go through the Bible you will come across many promises – “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Phil 4:13), “Nothing will be impossible for you “ (Math 17:20), if you have just a little faith, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26). Seek God and seek his help.
v Help from others. There are so many experts, trainers, mentors, coaches, nobody needs to struggle on his own to achieve a worthwhile goal. If you are a student struggling to make the grade there are student counselors, if you are battling to overcome an alcohol addiction there is Alcoholics Anonymous. If you want to train for the Olympics you need a coach with knowledge, skill and inspiration.
v Discipline. You need a plan or a training schedule and you need to stick to it. If you break the task into bite-sized bits it will not seem to daunting. Do you want to pass your exams at the end of the year? Will 2 hours of study a day do it? If not, allocate more. If you have not been studying up till now and are not in the habit (and your flesh is sticking its feet in and resisting all the way) try one hour a day for the first week, then 2 hours, then 3 hours until you get used to it. It will become easier. If you are going on a diet, make a decision to stick to it for today only. Then tomorrow make a new decision. If you are training for a marathon, start with a short distance than increase every day. Your discipline muscles might be very flabby and after a short time you might want to just give up. That’s where the guts comes in. Hang in there.
v Your will. This is the only thing that can get you doing the necessary hard work. How strong is your will? If your discipline muscles are flabby, you need to exercise them, to build them up. The same with your will. Force yourself to do certain things each day to strengthen your will. It should be something you don’t enjoy but which is good for you or the situation. It can be something as simple as tidying your workspace if you are an untidy person. Determine to organize one area a day and on subsequent days keep that one area ordered and order another. If you are doing weight lifting or exercise, force yourself to do another couple after you are exhausted. If you are a Christian and want to get closer to God, set the alarm clock for half an hour earlier then put one foot out of bed as soon as it rings.
Realize that there will be setbacks. This is no easy task and nobody said it was going to be easy. Perseverance requires courage. It requires guts. Are you up to it? Remember. No Guts no Glory.
So, who is winning the war at the moment? Who is in control here? Your will or your Flesh? Who will be winning the war tomorrow?
No comments:
Post a Comment