Self-Discipline 101

I was thinking about discipline and recalling what I wrote for my book report for a book for my minister credentials and realized that my biggest motivation seems to be punishment. I had written about the cat litter and how I am getting more and more in the habit of checking on it and doing it more regularly because I don’t want to have my husband telling me the cat litter needs to be done. That just grates on my controlling side and makes me feel like a failure.  I started thinking about disciplining being a choice and realized another example of when I chose to start flossing my teeth. I did not want to hear any more from the dentist on you need to floss your teeth. Yeah, I know,  I know!  I challenged myself to floss every day and it became a habit that I cannot live without now. In the end, I no longer have the negative side of the dentist telling me I need to floss but him praising me for having my teeth look so good. The “punishment” got me motivated but the rewards made it worthwhile to keep it up and keeping it up instilled it into my life so much so that I cannot go without it. So, I am going to choose to start my blogging every day again and it will be about disciplining yourself, especially for the inner self, the garden of our soul. My goal is to work on the spiritual disciplines of prayer, study, meditation, memorization and fasting. The inner garden of our soul needs to be worked on like any garden if you want it to be beautiful and productive. In working my real garden this summer, I realized how much you have to look after it. It needs to be watered every day whether it is from the hose or from the rain, YOU have to make sure it gets the water it needs. So, ask yourself every day have I watered the garden of my soul? Have I spent time in God's Word getting fed from it? It isn't about how much time you spend, it is about doing a little bit every day to the point where you cannot live without it.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Genesis 2: 15