Self-Discipline

Ok so right off the bat, I'm already a hypocrite. I should be doing homework instead of blogging. But I enjoy this so much more. (SO much more). I was at the gym last night and began listening to a message my pastor, John MacArthur gave several years ago. If you know anything about John MacArthur, you know that (unlike so so so many television/radio pastors) he very rarely doesn't preach out of a very specific passage in scripture. He preaches faithfully through the Word verse by verse week by week, equipping the saints. No one at Grace Community Church lacks for good teaching. What's even rarer than him preaching out of various texts is for him to sound a bit like a self-help/motivational speaker. (It really almost never even begins to happen). But, those isolated occasions Dr. MacArthur begins to sound like Joel Osteen, he always brings it back to biblical reality and a Christological foundation - reminding us that, contrary to popular opinion and offensive to social sentiment, we are not our own. We are either slaves to sin, or bought with a price and now slaves to Christ.

This is just a taste about my next "major" blog entry: exploring why America seems satisfied, and often more filled, with the mediocre teaching of scripture, instead of the spiritual feast found in the banquets prepared by pastors like JMac, John Piper, Al Mohler, R.C. Sproul, and Steve Lawson, among many others. Why are we satisfied with cheese and crackers when so many other faithful men prepare filet mignon for us to freely consume? That's another post.

This post is just a quick glance of that sermon I was listening to at the gym.

(By the way, for those of you who may follow me on my twitter, you already know that JMac is my pastor of choice while I'm working out).

I won't go into all of the sermon. He basically talks about the importance of, by the grace of God, the exercise of spiritual self-discipline. He talks about several of the places we see glimpses of the Lord's direction to the importance of self-discipline. To listen/read the whole sermon, go here. I'm just going to post the practical applications/behavior practices you can implement you can begin to do to exercise spiritual discipline. Then, I'm going to force myself to do homework :)

First, is to begin with little things. Learn to exercise self-discipline in small and trivial things not because they are secretly the big things, but because "your integrity, your credibility, your word is important even in the little things."

Another one is be clean/organized. Have an intolerance for physical clutter in your life. Learn to get rid of things you really don't need, organize and order the things you have. When you have no tolerance for the physical clutter, it's easier to clear up the mental and emotional clutter that serves no other purpose but hindrance and distraction.

Another is to make a schedule and learn to stick to it. This is kind of a natural result of the second discipline. If you're already very able to organize things, you're equipped to organize your time. Don't remain slaves to time.

Another one (my favorite that I really want to perfect) is to "wean yourself off of being entertained so that entertainment becomes for you really something that's arbitrary - you can take it or leave it." He goes on to say, "Get to the place where you, if you have excess time, do things that are productive rather than sit to be entertained." As alternatives, he suggests physical exercise, reading, or productive hobbies like gardening, etc.

Another one is to learn to be punctual. This flows from two organizational ones. Ordering your surroundings and then your time permit you to be able to be on time to things, even the small things. It's also a display of love to people who are waiting on you. It shows them that you value them over your self. It tells them that their time is more important to you than your own.

Keep your word. If you say you're going to do something, no matter how small it is, commit to doing it. Don't bail. This demands you exercise self-discipline not only after you've committed to something, but before you have as well. It might be easier to say yes to something in the moment, but if you have the organization previously described, you'll be able to know with likelihood whether or not you'll be able to come through. And if you don't know that you'll be able to, discipline yourself to say no even though it might not feel like the most expedient/convenient response.

Do the hardest task first. Save the very easiest for last. Don't wait and run the risk of running out of time or energy and using that as an excuse to do the hardest task on your list. Hardest tasks are usually the most important anyway. Get them out of the way.

Finish what you start. Simple, but how many of us have a myriad of things left uncompleted? (I have at least a dozen). Just have the conviction to finish before you begin it.

We're almost done, I promise.

Practice self-denial just for the sake of self-denial. He says, "Just say no so you can say to yourself, 'Self, you can say no when you want to.'" He uses the classic example of self-denial when it comes to food. He says, "I've suggested that even that next time you have the opportunity to eat a triple decker, super-big banana split, topped with chocolate and all of that, you might just say no, just so you can say to your stomach, 'See? I'm still in charge.'"

The last thing he suggests is to volunteer. There seems to be kind of a tie into many of these that really revolve around the organization of space and time. This is one of those. You have to have your life well-ordered enough to even be able to volunteer without compromising your obligations.

I would really encourage you to listen/read the rest of that sermon. Not because it gives more "tips" but because it rich in biblical truth. All of the above are just futile attempts at making life more fulfilling. They're futile because even though those are helpful, without a redemptive relationship with Christ, we are as empty as ever, and everything is lost.