"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
- 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
I've done it! I have finally come up with my theme for this year.
A theme? You might ask. Don't you mean a resolution?
To that, I say, "No."
As we are all too well aware, the famed "New Year's Resolution" is a glorified benchmark of which we constantly fall short. Of course the common ones are lose weight, exercise more, manage my household budget more tightly, take on the project of organizing the garage, learn something new, spend more time with friends and family. Most of us have backtracked by the following weekend. A lucky few may make it to the end of January. But by the time the ball drops a year later, none of us can even remember the trumped up promises we made to ourselves to ring in last year.
Fear not -- I am not trying to condemn you for already cheating on your new diet, or for skipping a day at the gym. I am not discouraging you from spending more time with your family and friends, and you should feel empowered to take on your garage as soon as this Saturday. I am just taking a different approach this year.
I intend for this year to revolve around a theme, rather than a rigid goal that I could very well miss. It isn't a lack of ambition, but rather a desire to experience my life more actively, to participate in my own personal growth.
So without further ado...
The theme for this year is Discipline.
Ack! Discipline. It is an intimidating concept and one that we tend to not be all that fond of. If you are close to me, you are likely scoffing at my suggestion that I could live a life characterized by such a rigid word. But I beseech you, let me explain.
The idea came to me this morning, as so many of my strokes of genius do, while I was getting ready for work.
Six weeks ago, Hubs and I decided to take control of what had become some unhealthy eating habits. We'd taken our first year of marriage and enjoyed it to the fullest. We learned that food tastes better when cooked in butter and oil, we indulged in more couch time than gym time, and we embraced date night as often as we could - complete with buttered popcorn and candy. The ride was fun while it lasted, but all good things must come to an end. So on the Monday after Thanksgiving, we reigned it in and began a rigid eating plan aimed at changing our bodies, and more importantly, our habits. Together we have conquered the late night cravings, the stubborn stagnation of weight loss, and the inevitable whining over the dessert menu. But our results have been incredibly gratifying! We have been exercising Discipline and are seeing the fruits of our efforts in tangible ways. In fact, we're both only a few short weeks away from our respective goals.
Similarly, a few weeks ago, I began thinking about my prayer life. I found myself becoming more easily irritated with people around me (loved ones and strangers alike), allowing mole hills to become mountains, and generally having a negative attitude. Something was amiss and had to change. I realized that my praying knees had become lazy. Whether it was forgetting to pray before meals, or waiting until I was too tired to turn my attention to God before bed, I knew I was spending more time lashing out than I was with a bowed head and folded hands. It is remarkable to see how quickly the Enemy takes advantage of those scenarios. Just like the diet, I knew a simple promise or resolution to start being more intentional about my prayer life was simply not enough. I needed some accountability.
So when my small group leaders announced that we would be having a "White Elephant" gift exchange at our Christmas Party, I saw my opportunity. As part of my gift, I promised to pray for the recipient every day in 2012 (a little something I may have borrowed from a Proverbs 31 daily devotional). There was my accountability. I am no longer praying only for myself or those around me, but I have a duty, a moral obligation, a responsibility to pray for someone else. I didn't make myself a promise, but rather another person. Since then, I have been faithful - consciously lifting this individual up in prayer on a daily basis. Of course my prayers do not end with him, but continue into an all out conversation with God. A conversation that begins my day and (hopefully) sustains me throughout it. I have already seen my attitude change and my heart soften {and that is saying something, especially on a Monday}. I am already beginning to exercise patience, soften my responses, and most importantly "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ". I constantly fall short, but I am operating within a framework of Discipline and again, I am seeing results.
I have a long way to go to living a Disciplined, obedient life. But I know I am on the right track. My ambition this year is to root out areas of my life that are lacking Discipline and to do what it takes to address and change them. I am certain that by the time the ball drops next year, I'll have found quite a few of them. And I will probably only have accounted for some. But it is a start. It is a long-term plan to change my heart and the way I live my life as an offering to the One who made me.
What will be your theme this year?
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