Seven Habits That Build Spiritual Endurance

Who do you think is having a better year – the man who committed in January to resolutions and big goals? Or, the man who committed in January to daily rituals of faith and core values?

Right, the year is easier on the man who was committed to his rituals of faith, to the core values they brought him.

That means, daily building your faith up is more important than resolutions. It’s what gives you the strength and the strategies to carry out your goals.

The problem you face is that you are a master negotiator. You can negotiate yourself out of any good decision. “It’s too cold to workout.” “It’s too late now.” “Let’s do this tomorrow.”

It’s ironic that every bad decision in my life had one constant – I was there.

It certainly doesn’t help to listen to self-proclaimed success coaches ranting, “Get up and kill it!” “You’re unstoppable!” “You’re the beast no one can conquer!”

What we really need is a mindset reset. A spiritual resolve that becomes our center. Our true self.

The great golf instructor Harvey Penick was asked by one of his students, “Help me to get out of the sandtraps.” Harvey replied, “I’ll eventually teach you that. But first, I’ll teach you how to stay out of the sandtraps.”

Life is full of traps. Moving closer to God will keep you out of the sandtraps of life. Having Godly wisdom and resolve will keep you from falling into the traps of self negotiation and self justification.

God’s strength will sustain you and rescue you from the traps, but not falling into them in the first place is wiser.

The first trap right now is the New Year’s Resolution trap. Here’s why: since we are all master negotiators, we negotiate deals with ourselves. We give ourselves reasons to quit.

We make ourselves feel better about not accomplishing something by accepting the reason we give ourselves for not doing it. But it’s still undone, and we know it.

Here’s how to accomplish something this year. Make decisions against yourself.

That’s right – don’t take your own excuses. Just get up, do what you need to do, and accomplish something.

Adjusting your mindset when you’re strong will undergird you when you’re weak.

Make sure you have a daily ritual of Bible and prayer. Do as the Proverb says: “Get wisdom!” That’s a daily commitment to the Word and prayer.

Let’s break it down further.

What one action could you take today, that will move you further toward your goal?

Make the decision today for what you need to do tomorrow. I use the You Version Bible reading plans for my early morning workout. It’s my “Bible and pushups” time.

Some days I get up with a lot to accomplish, a huge “to do” list. Urgencies. Some days I’m just tired. These are all “reasons” that I can’t read the Word, right? I don’t accept the “reasons.”

I already made the decision to decide against myself. I don’t take my own excuses. I just do it. I keep my daily ritual. And, it strengthens my life. “Wisdom is the principle thing,” the Proverbs says.

Make one decision today and do it. Don’t let yourself negotiate out of it. Just doing that one thing will have an extremely positive result.