A phrase hit me during church today. Self-discipline is not being so focused you never make a mistake: it is being focused on turning to Christ after you do.
I guess this strikes me close after what I’ve been through and concluded to this point about my experiences.
From the viewpoint of this quote, I wasn’t disciplined as I tried to recover. Perhaps the lack of discipline is what caused to to fall as far as I did.
So what does it take to avoid that in the future?
It takes at least three things:
1. Constant mindfulness. I need to be aware of what’s going on around me. I need to take moments daily to step back and take a look at what is going on. Gaining perspective is required.
2. Humble supplication of the Divine. This helps achieve the correct perspective. But in order to turn to Christ after a mistake, there has to be a relationship to turn to. I will not be willing to take a long-term perspective of I don’t have a constant relationship with Christ.
3. Desire to improve. If I want to be better, I have to be desirous of taking steps to improve. Listening to inspiration, focusing on moving forward, and learning to build in the midst of decay is prerequisite to growing and being disciplined.
None of these things are easy alone. But together they have the power to bring me and you from the depth of any and all mistakes we have made and provide us the discipline to always turn to Christ.