Skip to main content

Self-Discipline: What Your Relationship With God *Really* Needs

I'm a champion at beating myself up. I don't need other people to highlight my shortcomings; they are glaring to me, and over-exaggerated in my mind. 

I'm a lot better now, though, I have to admit. And that's because of a beautiful God who doesn't condemn me the way I do myself; who isn't shocked at or overwhelmed by my personal failures; who doesn't remind me of every thing I'm not doing right. 

Yet still, lately I've been feeling like an extra crappy Christian. I don't spend as much time absorbing the Bible the way I'd love to. I haven't been spending enough quiet time with God, just talking or waiting or listening. And I've allowed other things and people to take centre stage, in all honesty (much as it hurts me to admit it). 

Worse, I've whineeed about it for WAY too long. Because, all the while, I've had the power - with God's help and grace - to do something about everything I was unhappy with. And you have the power too. 

A great relationship with God isn't going to fall in your (or my) lap. It requires devotion, careful attention, quality time, putting other things on the back burner, saying 'no' to binge watching your favourite series or a night out with friends sometimes, doing things that push you out of your comfort zone (hello, speaking in tongues!), and actually sometimes NOT doing what you want to do because God is really (more) important to you. 

I know. It's serious business. But you have to make a conscious effort - every day - to make God your Best Bud. And that doesn't come by chance. Your relationship requires time, effort and commitment. 

But the good news is you totally have it in you to do all of that. Plus, God is always, always willing and ready to help you with whatever you're struggling with - YEAH, even when it has to do with Him!


Love,

Kunmi x

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Simple, Practical Solution To Reading More of Your Bible

At the beginning of the year, I decided I wanted to read the entire Bible - for the second time - in a year. (I also started using these amazing reading plans on my even more amazing Bible app, YouVersion. It's awesome; check it out! )  My aim is to get more of God's word into my head, mind and heart, and as a result, get to know Him better, as... "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was  God." (John 1:1) Simple, yeah? If God and His Word are one, then by getting to know one more, I get to know the other, right? But to achieve my goal, I obviously had to carve out more time to read God's Word.  Now, truth be told, I often find reading the Bible a little bit tedious (I'll have you know God appreciates my honesty), ESPECIALLY when it gets to certain, not-so-Jesus-loves-you-you-can-do-no-wrong-everything-is-all-GOOD chapters like Numbers, Leviticus and a few others (let's cut them some slack, shall we?). But I rea...

Let's Talk About Time: Where is Yours Going?

I've come to a stage in my life where one of the top 3 things I am most passionate about is how I'm spending my time. Why? It's one of the greatest gift God has given us - and a lot of the time, truth be told, we squander it. How you spend your time is a reflection of what you really care about. When you find that hours on hours are lost on online shopping, scrolling through Instagram, watching your favourite series, complaining about everything that's wrong in your life, it shows that's where you're truly most invested. It's where your heart and your mind are. Aside from chasing our passions and 'living our best life', how often do we remember that we are called to much more? That our lives are not just for chasing pleasures and being comfy? That we were created neither to just pay the bills or make loads of money? What are you doing with your time? It's a question I now ask myself everyday. It's so important to me not to go thro...

Why We All Need To Stop Feeling Bad About Our Bad Habits

Growing as a Christian and getting rid of bad habits is hard. Growing up, I always struggled with a bad temper and angry outbursts. I was simultaneously a great lover (of people) and a great fighter (my secondary school friends can testify so well to this!). But around 19 years old, with determination in my heart and God’s ever-present help, I was able to contain my emotions relatively well and hardly lost my temper any longer.  All that time, I didn’t realise how much God had worked on my heart, until about a year ago, when I tweeted about my anger issues as a teen and a former colleague replied, “Really? I can’t even imagine you being angry, Kunmi.” I literally LOL-ed. Girrrl, if only you knew! But recently, I’ve had to face my demons again. There’s something about being in such an emotionally-invested situation like marriage that can sometimes bring out things that have long been buried in you, or things you never even knew were there. When I got married, I found that I ...