Life is Pain: You Get to Choose!

This quote has been very powerful in helping me make some good choices because I know the pain of regret. There is no way to avoid the pain of these--we will have one or the other--think through it for a minute and see if it's true--discipline or regret. I know it is for me. And, for me, I have never regretted when I choose the pain of discipline, but oh, how I have hated the pain of regret.

This quote has helped me choose the "pain" of getting up early in the mornings when I'd rather sleep in, because I know the pain of regret when I wake up late and then I know the regret that leads to:

• missing some great opportunities in my day

• rushing and fussing at my kids

• not had time with the Lord that affects my day (and everybody else's too)

• caused me to be on the defense instead of offense

This quote has helped me choose the pain of making my time with the Lord a priority--might mean waking up even earlier or putting something else aside--because I have tasted the pain of

realizing I slipped into unhealthy patterns and thinking that was a result of not having consistent time with the Lord.

This quote has helped me choose the pain of putting down my phone when I'd rather scroll because I know the pain of regret of:

• not being present with my kids

• staying awake too long looking at social media which too often leads to the pain of not getting up early (see above)

• not getting my to-do list done and wondering where the time went

This quote has helped me choose the pain of doing a workout I didn't feel like I had the energy to do because I know the regret and how it feels like:

• feeling sluggish and not having much energy

• not doing something I set out to do

• feeling like I "should've" done that all day long

This quote has helped me make good food choices because I know the regret of:

• choosing to eat/drink things that affect how I feel (Hello 21 Day Sugar Fast!)

• how a lot of poor little choices add up to have bigger effects

• feeling stuffed and like I'm going to pop

So, I ask you--what areas in your life need discipline? This is personal for you. You probably already know some disciplines that would be good for you, yet those disciplines still feel painful...so you have not chosen the pain of discipline. That pain of regret seems less painful...but I promise you--the pain of discipline is so much better.

I would even like to take it a little farther and add a verse from scripture that has made this quote real for me. James 4:17 says, "So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin." This is where it got real for me. In the fall of 2017, the Lord led me to make some big changes in my life, and they were going to take discipline--painful changes...there were a few of them that I knew were bigger issues (and I had mandates from God's Word), but a couple--it was "just my personality and "who I was." But, in reading James 4:17, I knew those choices would truly benefit my family, and that these choices were the right thing to do. I KNEW I needed to do them. I knew they were right things to do! That is called--the HOLY SPIRIT! As the Spirit was leading me and showing me some areas that I should change, even though they were not mandates in the Bible...for me, not accepting those changes and implementing them was going to be SIN. That took it to a different level and really opened my eyes.

Do you have any disciplines you know you should implement into your life, yet it just seems too painful? I challenge you to give the pain of discipline a try. I think you will find it is not as painful as regret. It is actually rewarding and good.