Posts Tagged ‘Self Discipline’

The Wisdom of the World

Posted: June 29, 2024 in Something to think about
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

I thought a great deal about this title today because the idea of the “Wisdom of the World” continues to bother me. I am speaking directly about wisdom today and not knowledge…and before you ask me, here is the distinction between the two.

The primary difference between wisdom and knowledge is that wisdom involves a healthy dose of perspective and the ability to make sound judgments about a subject while knowledge is simply knowing. 

From my vantage point, wisdom comes from age and life experience, whereas knowledge…well, we have all encountered a REALLY smart person who has never done anything in their life. Maybe book smart versus street smart?

Why do I make this distinction? Because worldly wisdom puts a great deal of effort into ensuring you understand that you are in charge of yourself. And YOU, are the only one that can be, “all you can be” and to just work harder so YOU can achieve all YOU were meant to. You should be a self-starter, self-sufficient, self-driven, self-disciplined, and altogether 100% self-dependent on yourself. That is the Wisdom of the World.

Human self-sufficiency. Human self-indulgence.

Moreover, we are told that if we follow the blue-print above, we will achieve the apex of living which includes happiness and success. The irony for me is that the richest, certainly smartest, and most self-sufficient human being who ever lived on this earth, Solomon, said this about worldly wisdom.

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. 

Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. Ecclesiastes 2:10-11

You see, when a wisdom that excludes God, and only emphasizes human self-sufficiency and makes humanity its highest authority…well, that wisdom God calls foolishness. Why? Because through the wisdom of the world, humans have failed to find the truth or come to know the Creator. 

It truly is meaningless.

Does any of this sound familiar? Who do you think is behind the Wisdom of the World? Who is the prince of this earth right now? Yes, Satan. That is why Worldly Wisdom makes no sense to believers and the message of the cross is difficult for unbelievers. The Apostle Paul said this:

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18

Guys, if you only hear one thing I say today, hear this; Worldly wisdom leads to YOUR softness, which leads to YOUR moral collapse which leads to YOUR spiritual decline. And that is exactly where the evil one wants you.

I encourage you to watch and listen. You will be able to discern which wisdom you are hearing.

Until next time Guys-

Destination Procrastination

Posted: June 27, 2011 in Husband, Inspirational
Tags: , , ,
0

Procrastination. We are all guilty of it. We can seem to help ourselves. Sometimes I think procrastination is part of my DNA because no matter what the situation; confronting someone about their less than stellar work performance, or just dealing with a situation I may find uncomfortable, procrastination seems to affect everyone one of us at one time or another. The question is will it stick and be a part of us forever?

Now, I know there will be those out there who will read this post and just laugh. If that is the case, this post is NOT for you. But for the rest of us, the ones who tend to struggle with procrastination or self-discipline at your core level, I write this for you.

I looked up Procrastination in the dictionary and it told me “Procrastination is putting off until tomorrow what you should do today” I absolutely think that definition is very accurate but I would also interject that if procrastination only meant one waited until the next day, I don’t think the problem would be such a problem. To me though, the real issue is the people who put off what should be done today until next year, or worse case, never…those folks are the real concern. Can you imagine waiting a lifetime for someone to take care of something?

Why do people Procrastinate?
I am not a psychologist so I can’t give you reasons for people putting of their responsibility, but I can say, as a manager of people for the last 25 years, many of these folks frankly, don’t take care of what should be taken care of because they struggle mightily with self-discipline (or they are just lazy). I get to watch them everyday. Why is it that someone will only do enough to meet the bare minimum of responsibility, or wait until the last possible moment to turn in what is required of them?I see this problem coming down to personal organization or personal distractions like maybe a difficult home life or worse yet, they are just that “way”. Procrastinator, lazy, or all of the above.

Now we all know someone who fits my description. Sometimes we even find it funny, like our roommate in college who made a living with “just in time”papers to the professor, but he was only able to accomplish this with regular all night coffee binges the night before. When I hear a story like this I ask myself why…? Why is a little self-discipline so hard to accomplish for some people? Vance Havner said, “The alternative to self-discipline is disaster” and I agree with him. Continued complacency towards the future will result is just that…a disaster.

Remember that our success, in any endeavor, depends on the passion we bring to it, like our families or our place of work. God has created a world where your diligence is rewarded and laziness is not. Yes…you heard me correctly, God does NOT reward laziness, misbehavior, or apathy. Instead, he expects us to behave with dignity and self-discipline but what I have found, there isn’t much of those qualities around when you need them.

Proverbs 23:12 says to, Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge, and 2 Peter 1:5-6 tells us, For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness. God’s word is very clear to us; We must exercise self-discipline in all things and NOT put off our responsibilities until tomorrow…

Guys I encourage you to NOT procrastinate but to go out and put in a hard days work because you know it’s the right thing. When you do, you are on your way to a life of character and self discipline…a great place to be…

Until next time…