The Disciplined Life

The challenge: 12 pounds in 12 weeks. The contestants: myself and three of my friends. Despite the sarcastic comments of our nay-saying husbands, we are embarking on (at least) a 12 week weight loss and wellness plan. If all four of us lose the weight within the 12 weeks, our husbands have agreed to buy us each a complete new outfit. Yay for shopping! Secretly, the girls are conspiring to lose even more than the 12 pounds so that we will get an even larger prize.....a weekend getaway, perhaps? More to come on our progress and the final results of our experiment.

On a more serious note, I've been doing quite a bit of thinking lately regarding discipline in my life. Why is it that our bodies fight discipline so hard (spiritual discipline, discipline in diet and exercise, emotional regulation or discipline, discipline over our tongue and gossip, and the list goes on)? Yet, I find that when I achieve discipline in my life, I experience immeasurable contentment. I truly believe that God meant for us to live a disciplined life. There are too many scriptures about gossip, gluttony, excessive drinking, laziness, and meeting with God daily to deny this fact. I think that a piece of the lack of discipline in my life is that I just want my own way. I know that it is best to eat vegetables over cookies, I just like and want the cookies more.
Yesterday, while listening to a Focus on the Family Podcast featuring Chantel Hobbs I heard a statement that summed up my thoughts for the past few days. In talking about her own struggle with discipline in her life, Chantel said that she realized how she was living might not necessarily be "wrong" but that God had more for her. Chantel stated, "I heard God say to me, 'I have a better life for you than this.'
I know that I am at my best for God when I am daily practicing an intentional, deliberate, disciplined lifestyle. Somehow in discipline, there is freedom. In surrendering all of my choices into God's hands and resting in his love, there is peace and certainty regarding my course in life. Sometimes...most of the time, my way is not best.