26 Dec On Mission Warrior (5 of 12)
THE ON MISSION WARRIOR (5 of 12)
Continuing our year-end series on “The On Mission Warrior”…check our previous posts for the first four if you missed them! 
FIVE (5 of 12): I will discipline myself for the purpose of godliness and to maximize my physical, mental and spiritual fitness.
“Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;” (1 Timothy 4:7, ESV)
One benefit most people who come to our Dojos are looking for, either for themselves or for a child, is improved discipline. It is something that everyone seems to want to have more of. For good reason – people who are successful in all areas of life are those who have disciplined themselves in one way or another. Disciplined people have more stability, control of impulsive behavior and focus.
Motivational speaker, Jim Rohn, said that “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” Whether one’s goal is to be successful in school, their career, to earn a Black Belt or to become more like Christ Jesus (by His grace and in the power of the Holy Spirit), discipline is the bridge we must all walk across to accomplish those things.
Without this discipline in our lives, the reverse is true. H. Jackson Brown Jr., once said, “Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There’s plenty of movement, but you never know if it’s going to be forward, backwards, or sideways.” Most of us can probably relate to this feeling in some areas of our life at certain times. Whether it’s a physical, mental or spiritual goal of becoming increasingly fit, we may feel that our lack of discipline is making us more like “an octopus on roller skates!”
In battling against our natural inclination to be lazy, slothful and undisciplined, the On Mission Warrior purposes to discipline (train) themselves physically in the Dojo, to achieve the Martial Arts objectives of the Black Belt, but even more critical is the purposing to, as the Scripture in 1 Timothy commands, discipline (train) ourselves for godliness. When we have an amazing GOAL that we are striving for, discipline doesn’t have to be drudgery, but joyful! What greater goal can we have than becoming more like Jesus?!
There are many great resources on this, a couple of which I reference below, but I believe the TWO KEY DISCIPLINES for growth in Christlikeness are BIBLE INTAKE (which includes Hearing the Word of God preached/taught, Reading the Word, Studying the Word, Memorizing the Word, Meditating on the Word and Applying the Word) and PRAYER. The foundation of our Christian disciplines must be these two things! Our transformation from where we are, to where we want to be, begins here.
“The possibility of transformation is the essence of hope.” – John Ortberg, “The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People.”
http://www.johnortberg.com/the-hope-of-transformation/
http://biblicalspirituality.org/…/Discipline-Yourself-Witho…
Keep Fighting the Good Fight!
Blessings,
Marco
P.S. – We need your help to get our 3rd OMMA Location in Central Florida open in 2018 and continue growing the other two Dojos!
If you are so led please click the link below to make a Year-End donation to our “Increasing Capacity for 2018” Fundraiser. Thank you!
https://onmissionmartialarts.com/gi…/increasing_capacity2017/
Attachment: on mission warrior.pdf (116.2kB)