Beep, Beep, Beep….
*Hits Snooze*
Beep, Beep, Beep….
*Hits Snooze*
Beep, Beep, Beep….
*Hits Snooze*
Beep, Beep, Beep….
Oh Crap, I have to leave in 30 minutes
Since the beginning of the year, I have been wearing a bracelet that says the word “Discipline”. I choose the word because I want to learn to be disciplined in two areas of my life. 1) Eat healthily and exercise more 2) Wake up early so I can spend some time with God, praying and reading the Bible.
Seven months later and I am still hitting the snooze button. I decided to seek expert advice…in Pinterest. I have read dozens of tips:
- Go to sleep at the same time
- Don’t look at a screen 1 hour before you go to sleep
- Don’t eat food 1 hour before you go to sleep
- Avoid eating bananas in the late afternoon
- Work out in the afternoon
- Don’t work out in the afternoon
Some of these were very useful, and at times I would wake up early for an entire week, without a single snooze, and it really improved my day. I felt like I was closer to God, I was happier throughout the day, and I was very productive. However, I wasn’t consistent, more than not I was hitting that snooze button. I was lacking discipline; I was lacking self-control (they are synonyms).
I started reading blogs and listening to podcast about self-control; topic like “Habits you can develop to have self-control” or “How successful people mastered self-control”.
The definition of self–control is “the ability to control oneself, in particular, one’s emotions and desires or the expression of them in one’s behavior, especially in difficult situations”. In other words, it has everything to do with “I” and “my” control over “I”; at least, that’s what I thought.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-
Self-control is not a “self” thing is a fruit of the Spirit. I like the way the Message paraphrases it:
But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.
While the Message is somewhat different from the NIV translation it does expand on the gifts of the Spirit. They are gifts from God, given if we live in God’s way. Self-control, willingness to stick with things, and the ability to marshal and direct our energies wisely all come from God as gifts.
Maybe, I have been too selfish with my self-control. I think that as Christians, we talk a lot of game about surrendering to God, but we might not fully understand how deep the surrender must be. We must surrender our flaky versions of self-control and ask Him to give us the Spirit’s version of self-control- unbroken and constant.
As for me, I will continue to follow some of the tips that I read in Pinterest (they are good tips); more importantly, I shifted my perspective and asked (and will continue to ask) the Spirit for that gift.
No more snoozing
Love,
Milo
