WILL.
"When there's a will there's a way."
Recently I wrote about my new found ability to exercise my will in the area of morning bible studies. The past couple of months the Lord has been teaching me a lot about exercising my will, relating to much more than my bible studies.
"If only..."
"BUT..."
"Because..."
"I can't help it."
"Oh, forget it."
"It's not MY fault."
I could go on, but I'll stop there. Please tell me that I'm not the only one who is constantly making excuses for myself. When does it end? We dig down deep into our emotional background and past experiences trying to find an answer. We listen to our feelings and desires and give them control. There are reasons galore for why we do things the way we do, but when it comes down to it, we have a choice.
I love this quote from one of my new favorite book, Unglued, by Lysa Terkeurst:
"Feelings are indicators, not dictators, child. They can indicate where your heart is in the moment, but that doesn't mean they have the right to dictate your behavior and boss you around. You are more than the sum total of your feelings and perfectly capable of that little guide from Jesus called self-control!"
Feelings. Do they have control over you? I've given them the control time and time again. As I was sitting down to write some resolutions for 2014, I could trace my feelings to the root of my struggle with everything on my list. How often do we loose focus on our goal because we don't FEEL like it?
The word "will" is used to express a command, according to Webster. It is a choice. Our will. It's what we command to happen.
My prayer for 2014 is that God will continue to remind me to exercise my will. That he might strengthen my ability to use my will to better myself and become more Christ-like.
But mostly... as I seek to know God more through his word, I want that word to have an effect. I want it to not only define me but change me. I want to have the will to let his word change me.
