Posts Tagged: sponsorship
GRACE AND DISCIPLINE
“GRACE AND DISCIPLINE”
Most mornings, I begin my day with an e mail report or a phone call to my 12-step sponsor. He has encouraged me to include a personal affirmation, and I’ve been doing that most days for some time now.
Here is our e mail exchange this morning.
“Dear Sponsor,
No violations.
AFFIRMATION: Today, by God’s grace, I will not be timid, fighting off my back foot. I will be aggressive when it comes to living a good, holy, loving life.
I hope that you have a wonderful day.
Me”
My sponsor replied to my report and affirmation as follows:
“I hope ‘fighting’ is minimal and enjoyment maximum.”
I replied to his reply as follows:
“Dear Sponsor,
The battle to live an enjoyable life is mostly (for me, at least) a battle to live a disciplined and graced life. When I live as a person who knows that he has received huge grace from God and many people, and when I live a disciplined life, joy is a natural fruit of that way of living.
Me”
I’ve noticed that people who live a disciplined life are not necessarily happy people. They often are like one definition of perfectionists: “Perfectionists are people who take great pains, and give them to others.” Some people turn self-discipline into rigor—or even, into rigor mortis!
I’ve also noticed that people who are very well aware of grace are not always happy people. If they lack discipline, they always have at least a vague awareness that they are not living up to grace. They have a sneaking feeling that they are somehow betraying the grace they have been given. This is because that is what they are doing.
I have been (and am still, sometimes) both kinds of people. I have abused both grace and discipline.
Nowadays, I’m trying to recognize them as twin companions on my journey. They are both important. No, that’s not right. They are both essential!
In a little-known passage in a not-generally-popular book of the New Testament, the Apostle Paul points out in a wonderful way how grace and self-discipline go together. Apparently, Grace runs a school of self-discipline. I close with these verses from Titus 2:11-14:
“11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,
13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,
14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”
DTEB
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
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- “Delighting in Being Told What to Do?!?” February 23, 2024“Psa. 112:1 Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments! 2 His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures […]
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- “Searching for the Noble One” December 26, 2023My wife and I were reading Luke, chapter 2 on Christmas Day. Luke 2 talks about the shepherds being told to look for this very special child—in fact, this King—in a stable. I prefer the word “barn”. I grew up on a farm. I know what a barn is. A stable is entirely too biblical […]
- “That Don’t Impress God Much” December 14, 2023DTEB, “That Don’t Impress God Much” “That Don’t Impress Me Much” (Song by Robert John Lange and Shania Twain) Micah 6:8 (MSG) “But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be […]
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