Submitting to the God of excellence.

It’s extremely easy to lose sight of discipline in the modern days we live in. Most people live their lives in such a fast pace that they barely have time to keep up with life. But there is something so important that we need to keep in mind when we consider things like order and discipline; and that is excellence. God has not called us to live careless lives but to live our lives in a way that shows the greatness and perfection of our Excellent God. It’s easy to think that a disciplined life is a stiff and burdensome existence but that couldn’t be farther from the truth! Lack of discipline breeds chaos and causes us to suffocate under the weight of untidiness. God’s desire for us is to live our lives in such a way that they will undoubtedly carry the imprint of heaven for everyone to see. We are to seek God’s excellence and to allow Him to have His way in every area of our existence if we want to live well-ordered lives. As I’m seeking to live a more disciplined life, I’m finding that I need to be very careful about how faithful I am on a day to day basis. Discipline is a matter of dedication and it starts from the smallest things but it builds up to the grandest of endeavors. It’s not enough to have good intentions about the way we want to live life on a daily basis- we actually need to put every effort into living faithfully in even the smallest details of our existence. During this season of my life, I’m working a full-time job and I must tell you, I absolutely understand what it means to find yourself struggling to keep things in order. Lately however, I’m finding more and more that discipline is not a matter of perfect circumstances but rather a matter of creating perfection in the most undesirable of circumstances. I am so taken back by just how much connection there is between a well-ordered interior and a well-ordered exterior. As I’m allowing God to have more and more access and control over my inner life- such as my thoughts and my attitudes, there is a powerful ability to carry our my life in an ordered manner. As long as God is in control of my heart, I am made able to be in control of the areas of my life that He has placed under my control. If only we would understand the beauty and excellency of God’s character! The more you will get to know Him by making reading the Bible and prayer the focus of your daily existence, the more your life will reflect the excellence of God.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. -1 Peter 2:9 (ESV)