Are you tough?
I sometimes think I’m tough. But I’m not really.
Not like this.
It isn’t that I don’t have good intentions.
I do.
Yet, because I’m not tough, in this regard, I’m missing benefits I ought to be enjoying.
It’s then, in those look in the mirror moments, when I am able to honestly see that I’m a wimp, not tough.
How come?
Why am I like this?
Why am I quick to push aside the nourishing stuff and settle for junk?
Sure, intention can be fun to play with, but it’s action, not the dream, not what could be, that is essential here.
I know this.
So, do I recognize that toughness is relevant to my well-being?
I do.
Tough.
This sort of toughness has the ability to make me a champion.
Do I want to be a champion?
This kind of toughness will counter-punch my loser, my wimp behavior.
- I’m going to do it.
- I’m going to bounce this ninety pound weakling.
- I’m going to dare myself to commit.
Give up your crooked ways and your evil thoughts. Return to the Lord our God. He will be merciful and forgive your sins. Isiah 55: 7 CEV.
This is the toughness I need.
This is the toughness necessary to gain every thing worthwhile.
Spiritual toughness.
Pierre Teilhard de Cardin said, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
I have a model for spiritual toughness.
Jesus.
Jesus, time after time, incident after incident, conflict after conflict, took blows, not like a wimp, but as a spiritually tough warrior.
I realize, on my own, I’m unable to do what Jesus did.
But Jesus can show me how to become spiritually tough for my own good and the good of those in my world.
Am I ready to get spiritually tough?
“One of the greatest indicators of our own spiritual maturity is revealed in how we respond to the weaknesses, the inexperience, and the potentially offensive actions of others.” David A. Bednar
“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” Jesus, Mark 12: 30 NLT
- There are three ways I am able to become spiritually tough:
1) repent
2) surrender
3) believe
As I go face to face with these actions, I’ll become spiritually tough.
