Self Discipline

"If only I had the willpower to ________." How many times have you made that comment to yourself. I know that there have been times when I wondered why in the world I simply couldn't force myself to follow up on my goals; to make myself execute my life plans ruthlessly. If you've felt the same way, you're not alone. Even during the periods of time when I have been the most committed to my goals, there would still be days and weeks where I would falter. In Romans 7:15-20, Paul says

"I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a] I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it."

(New Living Translation)


Apparently we're not the first generation to struggle with this, and it's not limited to our fitness struggles either. In recent times, I have been much more successful in sticking with a healthy lifestyle, but have still not been as good as I would like to be as a husband, an employee, or a child of God.
My Pastor preached a sermon series on becoming disciplined, in which he stated that "trying hard" was not nearly as important as "training hard." I don't like getting out of the bed at 5:00 every morning to run or bike or swim or lift weights. If I leave it to myself to simply try hard to do it, I will continue to fail. If I can make it a habit, if I can train myself to do this such that it feels as natural as eating and drinking, then I can succeed. Now is the training period. It is the time to teach my body and mind to behave the way that I want them to. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.