BRAVE Study - I aM uNdIsCiPlInEd

Week 3 of BRAVE study

Are you undisciplined??? I'm sure we all are in some most areas of our life. If you answered YES... read this!!! :) If you answered no... well you probably should read it even more.


Angela asked us at the beginning of the week how we felt about the topic of undisciplined.  One of my greatest enemies is... myself. I'm very prideful at times so I suspected that God would teach me humility and the fact that I AM SO UNDISCPLINED. I was expecting to learn... and I did.  When I think of the word DISCIPLINE I get an image of a ruler in my head. My mom told me stories a lot growing up and I remember some about getting swatted with a ruler when she did nothing wrong got in trouble. So... I fully expected a ruler to swat my hand/heart a few times... I was right. 


We all struggle with some area of undiscipline. 
What's your list? Maybe they are similar to mine:
eating habits * exercise * writing letters to friends * calling people I love * cleaning * focusing  on the important things * (and more)


God can change every lack of discipline in our lives and be the strength we have not known. I loved this quote from the book because often the strength I know is MINE... not very reliable. I am weak. He is STRENGTH.


In Romans 7, Paul describes my brain - there's a war everyday about doing the things he doesn't want to do and not doing the things he wants to do... (you have to read that passage like 4 times b/c it's like the fuzzy wuzzy was a bear rhyme... just craziness but so good!)
Paul said that our ONLY rescue from the war in our flesh comes from God through Jesus Christ.  Maybe you can't stop eating chocolate. Maybe you make constant excuses for not reading the Word. Maybe you are lazy. No matter how many areas of undiscipline you can think of, Jesus is the answer. No matter how many years you have struggled, Jesus is the answer. No matter how discouraged you may be, Jesus IS THE ONLY ANSWER. 


Many of us struggle with lack of discipline because we have given control to something else. Jacob talked on this with the youth last night. Many people will pray the prayer and believe they are saved, but their lives are still about them. God doesn't have control.  Many times, we, as brave Christian women give control to other things and people in our lives. Why? We put so much trust in stupid things. Think about it, everyday we trust - elevators, chairs, cars, the people around us driving, computers, banks, etc... but we don't trust the King of the Universe who made it ALL and knows us INTIMATELY! That makes NO sense! 
We are obviously weak, but striving to be BRAVE, women. Our strength can only come from ONE source! ONE - and that's not us, or a relationship, or a job, or a circumstance... it's CHRIST! He is strength. He is bigger. He is our refuge. He is our discipline. Strength comes from humility and obedience to Him. He is more than enough.

Strength and Discipline comes from Holy Dependence:

*my favorite thing of the week*

What if on this earth we will never be completely disciplined in every area of our lives at the same time? And what if that's on purpose? A design element. A Creator component. An intentional decision by our God so that a HOLY DEPENDENCE is required for us to mature toward each new place of discipline.  

Maybe God allows my lack of discipline because it keeps me running to Him. His strength is the source by which I will grow into greater discipline.  He makes me able to take the next BRAVE step.  Maybe if I work up tomorrow completely disciplined, perfected even, I would think more about myself and my great accomplishment and less about God and how much I need Him.

I do not speak for God, and the Scriptures do not elaborate here, but what if a perfectly disciplined life was never God's intent? What if He intended HOLY DEPENDENCE for life-long growth toward Himself?

GROW TOWARDS HIM. Run to Him... weaknesses and all.