Discipline, Discipline, Discipline
July is here and I have to admit
that I haven't
gotten into the habit of my yard
work. Don't
get me wrong, it looks fine,
it's just that
I don't get to mow the grass
weekly or bi-weekly
like some people. I may go 10
days instead
of the regular 7 as some are
known to do.
I have yet to get into the habit
of doing
it on a contunial basis. I suppose
it stems
back from my distaste for it
when I was growing
up! However, I know what it will
take to
get back on track: Discipline!
A major cause for a bodybuilder
not seeing
improvement is consistancy or
lack of it.
To get the muscles to grow you
have to be
consistant. It isn't about "Oh,
I don't
feel like training today, I'd
rather go do
something else. That's OK if
you've been
training for a while and need
a day off because
of lack of sleep, overall fatigue
or even
overtraining. Of course if you
are injured
that's a totally different ball
game! However
for the beginner and even the
intermediate,
it is important to develop that
routine.
You need to get that proper sleep,
enough
nutrition and weight training.
You have to
be consistant. How do you achieve
consistancy?
Glad you asked! Discipline. It
takes approximately
six weeks to develop a new habit
and only
two weeks to fall out of one.
Often, when
a beginner joins the gym, they
go at it with
all they have, pumping away with
the weights
and giving no thought to the
total process.
They don't see the gains they
want and they
quickly fade away. You see them
at the gym
every January and by March at
the latest,
they're gone. No one tells them
about the
sleep and food they need to create
the environment
for growth. They'll spend hours
at the gym
and eat twice a day and sleep
for five or
six hours a night. Bodybuilding
for many
of us is a lifestyle, not a professional
sport. You have to pay attention
to all the
details or it doesn't work. Like
the parts
of a car, if one thing is out
of sync, the
whole system runs poorly. So
how do we achieve
discipline? Practice and a mindset
of sticking
to it. Set a goal, keep it in
mind, set out
after it. Get a book to record
your foods
and the time you eat so you can
begin to
study your diet, get yourself
a workout journal
and record your exercises and
the poundages
used. Go so far as to record
how you felt
that day. Go to bed at the same
time each
night and get some good quality
sleep. The
body repairs itself when we get
good sleep.
If you have trouble getting your
daily routine
going, be accountable to someone
else if
need be. And above all, don't
give up!
Like when we first begin to weight
train,
we are on fire for the Lord when
we are first
saved. However, noone tells us
about the
quiet or "dry" times
when we find
it difficult to hear God. Many
fade away
and backslide when this happens.
They may
feel God has abandoned them and
so they turn
away. Such a shame! These dry
times are the
times to draw closer to God.
How do we do
that when our worldly reaction
is to run?
Glad you asked! Discipline! Sometimes
it
comes down to just standing still,
listening
and praying harder supplemented
by a good
heavy dose of the Word! When
you've prayed
and battled, be disciplined to
just stand.
(Therefore take up the whole armor of God,
that you may be able to withstand
in the
evil day, and having done all,
to stand.
Ephesians 6:13)
We must also remember that when
we are saved
we must shed the "old self."
(But now you yourselves are to put off all
these: anger, wrath, malice,
blasphemy, filthy
language out of your mouth. Do
not lie to
one another, since you have put
off the old
man with his deeds, and have
put on the
new man who is renewed in knowledge
according
to the image of Him who created
him, Colossians
3: 8-10) Many of us, when we are saved do not shed
off all of the old things at
once. We are
all at a different place in our
walk with
the Lord. That is why it is so
important
not to judge your fellow Christian.
You just
don't know where they have been
compared
to where they are now! But how
to shed those
things? We have to become disciplined
in
the ways of God. How do we do
that? All the
answers are in the Bible! It
teaches us how
to live good and holy lives pleasing
to Him!
(that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully
pleasing Him, being fruitful
in every good
work and increasing in the knowledge
of God.
Colossians 1:10) Will we always succeed? Well, just going
by my own self, I would say no.
A while back,
I would fail miserably - daily
where it came
to "filthy language out
of your mouth."
The "F-Bomb" would
flow fairly
easily at times and I wouldn't
even realize
I was saying it! I am not proud
about this,
just sharing. My little guy muttering
that
famous word followed by the word
"idiot"
was enough of a cure for me.
They say that
out of the mouth of babes often
come gems!
Well, this gem cured me for sure.
I thanked
God that night for sending me
a difficult
lesson to learn - having my little
guy say
those words made my spine go
cold and that
was all I needed! Did I stop
it right away?
Well...I did stop saying it out loud at least. It took
a while before the word was removed
from
my vocabulary. It took discipline
to do it
though. I had to pray to God
for help because
I was so accustomed to using
that word. He
answered that prayer and I am
thankful. If
anything else, remember that
as Christians
we must discipline ourselves
to walk the
better walk so that we can witness
to others. (But I discipline my body and bring it into
subjection, lest, when I have
preached to
others, I myself should become
disqualified.
1 Corinthians 9:27)
And now our prayer. Lord, throughout
our
days we falter. Thank You for
Your grace
and mercy. Thank You for the
gift of Your
Son so that we may have access
to heaven.
We pray for guidance as we strive
to serve
You. Father, we call out to You
to help us
with our discipline. Speak to
us through
Your Word. Let Your Word leap
off the pages
and show us the way. In Jesus'
name we pray.
Amen!
Now, go with God and lift that
iron!
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