INCREASE AS YOU INCREASE
Hey there, friends. I find myself in an interesting and stretching phase of my life.
You see, I've always considered myself a disciplined person. I've put in the hard work, served others, and, well, I've had my moments of complaint too (I mean, who hasn't?). But I never let myself camp out in negativity.
As I grow older, I've come to understand that life's different seasons require varying degrees of discipline and growth. It's a process of becoming more like the person God created us to be.
1 Corinthians 9:24-25 (NIV) - "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever."
I've noticed that striving for higher levels of grace, faith, and obedience demands a new level of discipline. It's like an athlete training for the eternal prize. There’s a training process. And with each new level, there are new opportunities to level up our discipline. That's where the Holy Spirit is like our “coach” and steps in and fine-tunes us.
I heard Kobe Bryant say: “Your job is to try to be the best basketball player you can be. To do that you have to practice, you have to train. You wanna train as much as you can as often as you can. So if you get up at 10 in the morning, train at 12. Train for 2 hours, 12-2, you have to let your body recover. You get back out, you train. You start training at 6, train from 6-8 and now you go home, you shower, you eat dinner, you go to bed, you wake up and you do it again. Those are two sessions.
Now imagine, you wake up at 3 and you train at 4, go 4-6, come home breakfast, and relax. Now you are back at it again, 9-11, you relax, and now all of a sudden you are back at it again, 2-4. Now you are back at it again, 7-9/ Look how much more training I have done by simply starting at 4. So now you do that as the years go on the separation that you have with your competitors and your peers, just grows larger and larger and larger and larger. By year 5 or 6, it doesn't matter what kind of work they're doing in summer, they're never gonna catch up.”
And while I could start the argument of whether Kobe was one of the best basketball players of all time… let’s keep it nice LOL. I’ll just say that stats don’t lie. He was one of the most disciplined athletes of all time, and it showed. With each new level he reached for, he had a choice to level up his discipline or stay the same.
Your level of discipline will always be the ceiling for your growth.
As I strive to grow in every aspect of my life, I've made a deliberate effort to open my heart and spirit to God's correction more than ever before. What I've discovered on this journey is that, amusingly enough, I often misinterpret God's correction as criticism, even when I'm the one asking for it! 😅
But it's vital to keep in mind that when it comes from Him, it's never meant as condemnation. The Holy Spirit communicates with our spirits, and it's our minds that sometimes get tangled in misinterpreting His loving guidance. Somewhere between our spirit and our mind, the message can get twisted.
That's why it's crucial to let our spirits take the lead. As Proverbs 20:27 reminds us, "The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord." Our spirit is attuned to God's intentions, and when we allow it to guide us, we can accurately interpret His messages every time.
Proverbs 3:11-12 (NIV) - "My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in."
Romans 8:14 (NIV) - "For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God."
So, what I'm working on now is letting my spirit lead the way instead of getting caught up in my mind. It's about trusting that the path He's guiding me on is the right one.
As we journey through life's ever-changing seasons, let's remember to embrace discipline, increase in self-discipline, trust in His guidance, and keep our hearts open to correction, knowing that it all comes from a place of love.
That’s all for today’s reflection.
❤️ - SARAH
