If your life was a car, are you in the driver’s seat? One thing I’ve noticed as a pastor is that many people aren’t.
They have resigned themselves to the passenger seat and given their emotions and impulses a driver’s license. Today, I want you to know it doesn’t have to be that way. You belong in the driver’s seat!
A key to winning in life is doing what you should even when you don’t feel like it, when you’re not in the mood, and when it’s not convenient or even fun. If you only do what you should when you’re in the mood or it’s convenient you’re not going to be very successful.
When you do what you know you should even though it’s difficult and not very convenient you know you are in the driver’s seat.
I’m not saying “try harder.” What I’m saying is you must arrange your life around certain practices that will enable you to do what you cannot do now by willpower alone. Our emotions and impulses have a mind of their own.
IT’S NOT ABOUT TRYING HARDER IT’S ABOUT TRAINING BETTER
There is a huge difference between training and trying. We overestimate what we can get done through trying and underestimate what we can do through training. It would be foolish to tell someone they could run a marathon if they tried hard enough…no matter how hard they tried…no matter how positive they were…no matter how much willpower they possessed they would never be able to finish the race.
That’s obvious…but we apply that same logic…to things we need training in all the time…try harder to get out of debt…try harder to love people…try harder to have more self-control…try harder to complain less…it doesn’t work that way.
You are going to have train yourself not to let your body, mind, and emotions do what is natural. If you do what is natural you are going to wreck your life. You have to train your eyes to look away when you notice the receptionist with the low cut dress or the bouncing blonde running through the neighborhood. You have to train yourself to complain less and to look for the good. You have to train yourself to be patient with others. You have to train yourself to control your impulse to spontaneously purchase something you don’t need or have the money for. You have to train yourself not to blast off an email when you are angry. You even need to train yourself to engage and not to shut down.
You make the decision and then you have to manage that decision every single day through training your mind. Making a decision to change is easy. It’s easy to decide to work on a marriage, get out of debt, read the Bible, complain less, praise more…all easy. What’s hard is MANAGING that decision. Managing your time…impulses…emotions…words…all difficult. It’s not about trying harder it’s about training better.
Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” -1 Timothy 4:7-8
Paul tells us we need to train ourselves for godliness. The same type of training an Olympian would receive is the type of training we should apply to godliness–living, thinking, and acting in a way that would honor God and show the world around us a better way.
So the life you are living right now…would it look different if you focused more on managing the decisions you’ve made? Is your lack of self-management going to give your children something they have to overcome in the future?
There is a lot riding on the choices you make everyday. Don’t let your life be driven by your emotions and impulses. Lead your life with the help of the Holy Spirit. The level that you practice self-management will determine the future your children enjoy spiritually, emotionally, physically, and financially. The level that you practice self-management will determine how high and far you can go.
Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. – 1 Corinthians 9:24-25
