Monday, May 4, 2009

Developing Self-Discipline

Monday is a day off, and usually that means doing nothing related to exercise and doing a lot related to thinking and improving in the other areas of life. Some things are important to study and do, and self-discipline is something we all can work on. Dr. John MacArthur has some great advice on how to cultivate self-discipline in your life; this will translate into every area of your life, including your work, relationships, spiritual walk, and everything else. And there are 7 things, which means one for every day of the week (as if you could learn this all in one week!).
Developing Self-Discipline

John MacArthur
Practically speaking, how can a person develop self-discipline in his or her life?

Here are some things that have helped me through the years:
  1. Start Small. Start with your room. Clean it, then keep it clean. When something is out of place, train yourself to put it where it belongs. Then extend the discipline of neatness to the rest of your home.
  2. Be on time. That may not seem very spiritual, but it's important. If you're supposed to be somewhere at a specific time, be there on time. Develop the ability to discipline your desires, activities, and demands so that you can arrive on time.
  3. Do the hardest job first. When you do that, you will find it easier to do the simpler tasks.
  4. Organize your life. Plan the use of your time; don't just react to circumstances. Use a calendar and make a daily list of things you need to accomplish. If you don't control your time, everything else will.
  5. Accept correction. Correction helps make you more disciplined because it shows you what you need to avoid. Don't avoid criticism; accept it gladly.
  6. Practice self-denial. Learn to say no to your feelings. Learn to do what you know to be right even if you don't feel like doing it. Sometimes it's even beneficial to deny yourself things that are acceptable to have, like a doughnut in the morning or dessert after dinner. Exercising such self-restraint helps you develop the habit of keeping other things under control. Cultivating discipline in the physical realm will help you become disciplined in your spiritual life.
  7. Welcome responsibility. When you have an opportunity to do something that needs to be done, volunteer for it if you have talent in that area. Accepting responsibility can force you to organize yourself.
The first small thing I'm going to work on is washing my breakfast dishes (the egg pan; everything else goes in the dishwasher) before I leave for work and washing my supper dishes (the grill or pans and salad bowl) before I go to bed. That shouldn't be too hard, right?

My fun Monday activity (Mondays are my days to do something with someone; broad, I know) was to hang out with Davey (9) and Elijah (13) Masters. Blair was still there when I arrived, so we chatted a little about his recent trip to Korea. Then we played some Phase 10 (Davey picked it up really quickly, and Karthi said later she enjoys card games) and looked at the pictures in a book about birds. Elijah and I watched a little Home Improvement and George Lopez. When Karthi came home, we talked fast, for about 30 minutes, about everything but the kitchen sink. I love godly women who listen, and she is definitely one of them.

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