The Secret of Doing Better

So the old saying goes…”When you know better, you do better”.

Well, I don’t know if I fully concur with that statement. I would venture to say most of us “know” plenty. I don’t think we have a knowledge problem but more of an application problem. There is another saying. “Knowledge is Power”.

Well yeah, knowledge is power but only if it’s put to use. Where I live, in the Mid-Atlantic it’s starting to get cold in the evenings. Now my furnace itself is in great condition and functioning well. My natural gas supplier has sent the gas to my home. But if I don’t go to the thermostat and turn it on to begin the heating cycle I will remain cold. So what good is the power if it isn’t accessed and applied?

It’s Wellness Wednesday here on the blog and it is my goal to inspire you to honor your temple through proper nourishment, rest and exercise. This truth is one of the three pillars on which I’ve built Inspired Life. But guess what? There are times, even with the vast encyclopedias worth of knowledge I have in my head that I just don’t want to do what I know is right. Half the time I don’t want to exercise. I want to in my head, but making that happen with a 3 school age children, preschooler, a toddler, 2 loads of laundry, cooking for 8 people, and walls to wipe down, and floors to sweep and bank runs to make and on and on all in one day. Whew! You see there went my motivation to workout.

The same can be said for eating right. Well, most days I do want to eat right. But after my hands get raw and cracked from having them in water so much from all the produce I handle daily and the cooking and chopping, and cooking some more and washing and peeling, man I would really like the luxury to just throw a frozen family sized entrée in the oven. Some days I would like to just eat 4 slices of pizza. When I am in the grocery store and I look into the cart of the person behind me and hers is filled with soda, frozen dinners, chips, Lunchables, Rice-A-Roni and more, I think “Why can’t I just do like that instead of reading every food label, and picking, picking, and picking over produce and worrying about GMO (Genetically Modified Organism). ”

BUT…then I am reminded of this.

Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. James 4:17

I don’t now about you, but I don’t desire to willfully disobey God. As such, since I know better, I MUST do better. And by the power that works in me, I am capable of doing better. As it relates to honoring my temple, I cannot feign ignorance to the knowledge God has made known.

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

So what does it take to do better?

DISCIPLINE!

So I guess the secret of doing better isn’t a secret at all. It’s just a matter of being disciplined enough to make the best choice. The spirit at work in us enables us to choose well. And choosing well doesn’t necessarily mean exercising everyday or else you’ll be morbidly obese. Nor does it mean eat healthy every day or else you’ll die of heart disease, that’s being legalistic. But it does mean that I purpose I will choose well. It means I will be self-disciplined. Instead of 4 slices of pizza, maybe I’ll eat one or even a half because all I want to do is satisfy that initial hot, salty, cheesy longing. It means that occasionally my family will eat dinner from the Chinese restaurant. It means that even if I don’t feel like exercising because everything else is competing for my attention, I will give my body back 30 minutes of exercise for the 1440 minutes God has given me today.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11

What will you do today to be disciplined?

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!