Rolling with the punches
Me and Ben hanging out…..
Do you ever feel that life just keeps knocking you down. Over and over, even when you haven’t found your feet from the last knockdown. That’s been my story over the years but this past week has been a test for me as well.
When everything is working smoothly it’s easy to stay on track while continuing to do our good habits. It’s easy to put in the extra work, get up early, and do extra everything. It’s in the hard times where we see what we are truly made of. A punch in the gut will tell us more about ourselves than years of earthly success ever will. Those hard times are when we learn who we truly are. The hero, the coward, the mighty, or the meek.
It’s important to know who you are, but it’s more important to know who you want to be. Most people don’t realize they can change the type of person they are. It isn’t easy or fun, but if you want it bad enough, it will happen.
Diving in daily to the word, building community, physically strengthening yourself, and even having quiet time to think are all crucial in times of challenges. I’ve learned this over the past couple of years. Before that I did everything by myself, ignored my Bible, secluded myself and my family, and basically just got everything wrong most of the time. It led to me being a shell of the man I could be.
These days, I read my Bible daily, I have put myself into a community of godly men, and I look at every situation through a biblical or moral lens. I feel it takes work to be great. That won’t fall into your lap most of the time. I want to be known as a great man, but being great takes determination, consistency, and persistence. I struggle with some of those requirements. I have realized I need to have some accountability in my life. Without that, I am too weak to stay on track. I am not proud of that fact, but it is honestly where I am right now.
So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. – Colossians 3: 5
In order for us to change who we are, we must put our old ways to death, which means they cannot come back to us. How many times have you given up something or said it was the last time, but it wasn’t…. I know I have done that lots of times over my 41 years. My goal now is to put a stake in the ground and say from this day forward, I am a new man, I will not struggle, I will focus on living out the word of God.
This week I encourage you to put in the work to become great in at least some areas of your life. Remember changing who you are is a journey not a quick trip.