A New Day and a New Year

My temptation at the beginning of each New Year is to make a million new goals or resolutions. I love the idea of a fresh start and get excited about trying again to strengthen all the areas where I am weak. I generally make many lofty goals and set very unrealistic expectations. Within a few days or weeks (or hours), I am completely frustrated with myself, and my inability to accomplish what I want. I then resort to walking around in discouragement – hanging my head low in defeat. I vow to try harder, start again, and do better...

The truth is, I am weak. I can never meet my own expectations. They seem possible and reasonable to me, but they are always out of reach. I did a study on self-control in scripture today. Although I didn’t let myself make a bunch of lofty goals this year, I am already feeling discouraged at my daily failures.

Here are a few thoughts / findings...

Self control is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:23), a mark of a mature believer (1 Tim 3:2, Titus 1:8, 2:2,5), is to be taught and encouraged (Titus 2:2,6), is motivated and produced by the grace and coming of Christ Himself (Titus 2:11-14, 1 Cor. 9:25), will increase effectiveness and productivity in knowing Christ (2 Peter 1:6-8), promotes prayer (2 Peter 4:7), is often linked with wisdom (Proverbs 1:2, 6:23, 23:23).

In contrast, someone who lacks self-control is “nearsighted and blind”, forgetting or not knowing that God has come to redeem them (2 Peter 1:9-10). This person also has a “form of godliness but denies its power” (2 Timothy 3:3-5). They are as helpless as a broken down city without walls (Proverbs 25:28). Lack of self-control can also lead to death (Proverbs 5:23).

The summary of my brief study is that self-control is extremely important to my life as a Christian. Its roots are in the power of Christ Himself though, not my own strength. It seems like it could be re-named “Christ-control” or “God-control”. Like all fruits of the Spirit, I don’t think it is something I can simply muster up with more determination. It seems to imply a surrendering, a letting go of my will and submitting it to the will of Christ.

Another fascinating discovery to me is that the motivator for self-control is Christ Himself. Being under His authority helps us know more of Him and His grace. It also promotes communication with Him through prayer. I so often want more self-control to have a higher number of checkmarks on my list each day. I want to be more disciplined so I can increase my efficiency and organization. I want to accomplish more! What a different way to view things if my goal for being more disciplined was to grow in my knowledge of God. What if my motivation for getting up early wasn’t to get more done in a day, or to feel on top of things? What if my true motivation was just to walk more closely with my God?

I’ve been pondering a lot on the following verses the past few days...

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”- Matthew 16:24-25

What does it mean to follow God fully and lose my life in His? What does this practically look like in my every day?

I am seeking the Lord for some answers to these questions. Hoping to write more about any insights He gives as I walk with Him each day. Praying for the grace to live fully!