The Battles We Fight
/Seeds of discipline sown in times of adversity will be reaped as discipline’s reward in times of harvest.
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You may have read my husband’s post about how we didn’t kiss until we were married. If you missed it, you can check it out here.
Shortly before I met Matt, I decided the next person I kissed would be my husband. And to me there was only one way to ensure that was the case. Our first kiss had to be on our wedding day.
I had kissed other guys before and after thinking about it I realized I was sowing seeds of commitment that could never be reaped. It was time to sow seeds of discipline.
Last night, as I was laying in bed, I thought about how many times I had fallen short to maintain a standard of purity in my relationships. I fell flat on my face time and time again.
If my past was any indication of my success in this endeavor things weren’t looking too good. I even had someone from the past give me a hard time about not kissing Matt. The assumption was that I couldn’t do it. And you know what? They were right. I couldn't do it without the constant help of the Holy Spirit.
I want you to know that discipline’s reward has been reaped many times over in our marriage. It's not only a testimony to others, but almost more importantly, it is a testimony to us.
We know that we can do the hard thing because we’ve done it before.
Yes, I knew what I wanted, but I attribute every bit of success to the leading of God's Spirit.
Galatians 5:16 says that when we walk in the Spirit we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Our flesh, our very human way of doing things, will always point us in the direction of immediate gratification. God's Spirit however, is eternal and when we walk in the Spirit our actions reflect that reality.
You see, our flesh is on it’s way out. We are all going to die, and from the moment we are born we instinctively want to satisfy our most basic desires. But the Spirit will constantly lead us to a better quality of life; a God-glorifying life. This life is forged on the battlefield of hard choices, when culture, our flesh, friends, and family are telling us to take the easy road.
Yet, greatness is found on the narrow road. It is found on the road less travelled. It doesn’t look like the newest, shiniest, sexiest thing. True greatness looks like character.
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. ”
I struggle with this idea everyday. I struggle with it in the things I eat, in the way I’m raising my children, in the way I choose to spend my time and my money. But I’ve done the hard thing before and I find myself having to do the hard thing again in a completely different area of life.
I’m thinking about this season and how many times I’ve utterly failed up to this point. Then, I am reminded that His mercies are new every morning and how He has proven Himself in my relationship with my husband.
God never fails. He never gives up on us. And we may feel like we just keep failing, so why try...?
...because the reward of discipline is greater than it’s perceived cost.
...because, if I belong to Christ, I have the Spirit of God inside me and all the power that comes with Him.
...because I can do this.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Even the hard things. Especially the hard things. And so can you.
Tweet this - "Seeds of discipline sown in times of adversity will be reaped as discipline’s reward in times of harvest."
Tweet this - "God's Spirit is eternal and when we walk in the Spirit our actions reflect that reality."
Tweet this - " Greatness doesn’t look like the newest, shiniest, sexiest thing. True greatness looks like character."
