Discipline is hard work

I used to have some sense of discipline when I was younger. As I got older and my areas of responsibility increased, I began to get sloppy. It’s strange. One might think that a person who had some sense of discipline increasingly grew indisciplined.

Now, I am trying to work on getting disciplined again. And my first step of course is to identify my areas of responsibility. It is not very easy. But it is not that hard either. Without too much thinking the following would be my areas of responsibility.

• Personal
  • Fitness
  • Diet
  • Spiritual growth
    • Bible reading
    • Bible studying
    • Prayer
    • Fasting
    • Scripture memorization
  • Reading
  • Writing
• Family
  • Spiritual leadership
  • Relationship with wife
  • Raising children
  • Finance and Bookkeeping
  • Home Maintenance
• Cross Cultured Church
  • Preaching
  • Soul Care
  • Administration
  • Equipping
  • Training
• Mysore Christian Caring Forum
  • Administration
  • Relationship with City Pastors
  • Management
• Priyadarshini Apartments
  • Maintenance
  • Accounts

In almost all areas I am currently not in the place that I want to be in. I hope to get better by the end of this year. I am planning to use the Ten Check Up Questions for the New Year by Kevin DeYoung as a guideline for my personal improvement.

The goals for this year would be:

1. Am I spending time slowly reading God’s word and memorizing scripture? I have been terrible at memory related stuff. I have to begin this. I plan to memorize Ephesians in 2016. In my reading, I want to concentrate on Jeremiah in 2016.
2. Am I having consistent, focussed, extended time of prayer, including interceding for others? Yes and no so far. I have been sort of consistent and focussed. But not really extended. And I am doing better than before. But I need to level up.
3. Am I disciplined in my use of technology, in particular not getting distracted by emails and blogging in the evening and on my day off? I have sinned in this area a lot. I have to work on disciplining my use of technology.
4. Am I going to bed on time? No. I wish I went to bed at a particular time daily. But it seems impossible. Everyday there is a different schedule.
5. Am I eating too much? Yes! I want to work on this.
6. Have I exercised in the last week? I have joined a gym too. Again!
7. Am I patient with my kids or am I angry with them when they disobey or behave in childish ways? There is improvement here but insufficient.
8. When at home, am I “fully present” for my wife and family or are my mind and energy elsewhere? I would say no. I am not fully present. I have to work on this discipline too.
9. Am I making sermon preparation a priority in my week or am I doing other less important things first? Not where I’d like to be. But it is priority work.
10. Have I done anything out of the ordinary to cherish and help my wife? Nope. I have to fix stuff in my life.

I hope to review these goals this year on a weekly basis. Pray for me.