Self-Discipline: Practical Tips
In light of yesterday’s post, Stop Wasting Time, and in keeping with the vision and purpose of The Rebelution, Brett and I would encourage all of you to read the article, Learning Self-Discipline by John MacArthur.
HT: Clarissa Ramos of the ever-excellent blog, The David Trait.
If our encouragement is not enough, here’s another push to make you go and read the article (and to give you an idea of the practicality and helpfulness). Here are the section titles:
- Start with small things.
- Get yourself organized.
- Don’t constantly seek to be entertained.
- Be on time.
- Keep your word.
- Do the most difficult tasks first.
- Finish what you start.
- Accept correction.
- Practice self-denial.
- Welcome responsibility.
Excellent stuff, huh? A lot of the things we’ve talked about, from a man with a lot more experience and wisdom than we have.
Go read the article.
February 7th, 2006 at 9:26 pm
wow. yes, you’re quite right. excellent is the word for that article! i’m challenged by “keep your word.” with 7 younger siblings it’s easy to promise to do something for/with them and then not follow through.
sanctification!! thank the Lord! *ouch*
February 8th, 2006 at 2:45 am
Definitely a practical and excellent article. There are certainly some things I can work on in self-discipline. Thanks for the link!
February 8th, 2006 at 4:25 am
I was challenged with your last 2 posts . . . and then I read this Piper quote: “I feel such a burden for us as a church to swim against the tide of almost every current in our culture. More and more and more, America is a nation given over to play. The industries of play are huge! Houses are built today with entertainment centers. Computers and videos and television and stereo all coordinate to give us ever more stimulating and captivating distractions from the realities of the world. When we need to be dreaming, for the glory of Christ, about how to spend our lives alleviating ignorance and sickness and misery and lostness, we are becoming more and more addicted to amusement.” (From a Sermon by John Piper delivered on November 29, 1998, Romans 2:6-10 - Eternal Divide – Eternal life or Eternal wrath)
Jeff Short
February 8th, 2006 at 3:36 pm
absolutley love your place here!
we are dealing with so much of these same issues. we’re raising three daughters (19-17-7) and one of the difficult questions they’re asking is, “mom, all the guys seem so passive and they just seem to wait on the girls to make the first move so that they don’t have to deal with rejection”. “where are the real guys that parents are raising to be strong, masculine, and adventurous?” their thoughts are that if the guy isn’t willing to step up and be assertive now, then that’s a glimpse of hte future int hat he will always be passive, and never take the lead. what do you say! becos much of that’s true in that the girls are so agressive in our society, it has allowed guys to retreat.
keep up the great work you are doing here and i will definitely be back real soon!
blessings!
lisa
February 8th, 2006 at 7:20 pm
Several posts lately have been about character, i.e. the real man, real woman, not being time wasters, etc. While thinking on this subject, I thought of a great book to recommend. I highly recommend Thomas Watson’s “The Godly Man’s Picture.” I read the Banner of Truth edition, which is very accessible to modern readers. Watson points out the characteristics of a godly man under numerous divisions. His thoughts are saturated with Scripture and stimulating. The reader should have little trouble being provoked to self-examination and personal application.
The way the book is layed out makes it perfect for devotion reading either alone or with family. After it has been read, it makes a great reference book to look back at a particular section for refreshment.
Where to buy? I originally got mine from The Discerning Reader, but their website no longer works. I would recommend Cumblerand Valley Bible Book Service (www.cvbbs.com). They have great prices and are currently having a special on the works of Jonathan Edwards.
God Bless,
Jeff Short
October 22nd, 2006 at 6:21 am
This is all such excellent stuff.
Somehow my homeschooling never taught me to be self-disciplined, and I’ve paid a huge price running my own business in later years. I’m learning self-discipline the hard and painful way!!! Even at just 25 years old, old habits are hard to replace! I need to keep reimmersing myself in good teaching like this - every time, a little more sticks, and I get a little closer to being the organised reliable man I seek with God’s help to become!
*radicalone* : I can completely relate to your predicament (your comments now being eight months old I see). I live way out in Melbourne, Australia, and know large numbers of good Christian girls who are wondering where all the manly Christian men are. What’s disturbing is that I also know numbers of Godly Christian men who are wondering where the womanly Christian women are. ??!!??!?! I even know several people who’ve ended up marrying internationally as “local offerings” weren’t “up-to-scratch”. In other words, good fellas and good gals are all over the place, and there are probably a bunch of good eligible Christian men for your daughters within an hour of your home, but somehow, and this I don’t “get”, and I’d love other people’s comments - somehow, the young men and the young women from the same geography often never meet. I encourage you : there are plenty of good Godly young men out there (and for any young men reading this, there are plenty of good Godly young women). Pray that God will bring them across your family’s path, and in the meantime, have patience!