Do you have self-control?

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
2 Timothy 1:7
What is self-control?
Well….
According to Google’s dictionary, self-control is the ability to control oneself, in particular one’s emotions and desires or the expression of them in one’s behavior, especially in difficult situations.
Dan’s definition is a little less complicated. Self-Control is the ability to control your thoughts, emotions, and actions.
My question for you is what do you do with your self-control?
The other day I was traveling (go figure Dan traveling, no way. Lol) and what I discovered was that I was building some pretty bad self-control habits while I was traveling.
I was not eating the way I was at home. I would take extra time for things that I should be doing. And to be honest I was failing in several areas that I didn’t want to fail in.
At the end of one of my trips, I was evaluating what I had accomplished.
Let’s see, I was able to record more than 20 podcast episodes. Recorded more than 15 videos for a goal-setting course I created. I wrote 4-5 blogs. I wrote 2-3 devotionals. Talked to about 2 dozen customers, helped Jenna to organize her thoughts, and scheduled for an extremely complicated day. And put out fires for clients across the nation.
I got plenty accomplished, but I noticed that I was slipping on some of my personal self-discipline.
I wasn’t eating in a way that made me feel healthy.
You know, like eating ice cream after dinner, instead of having a protein shake to quench my sweet tooth.
I was doing a few other things that I didn’t like either.
I like to consider myself extremely self-disciplined. When I say I’m going to do something, I do it.
Like when I decided that I was going to try this new high-protein diet and see if I could lose some weight. I stuck to it hard. And lost over 20 lbs.
When we decided to start these devotionals, we published one every single week for the last 3+ years.
Or writing blogs. I have published a blog once a week for the past 3+ years.
I think you get the point when I tell myself that I am going to do something. I DO IT. No questions asked.
But here lately, I have been slipping on a few things.
So what did I do to help give me the strength to get back to being self-disciplined on those things?
I prayed.
My prayer was simple. Because I’m a simple guy.
“Lord, help, give me the strength to have the discipline in the areas that I need the most. Thank you. Amen”
Here’s the thing, Satan loves it when we slip, and stumble.
Then he makes it easier and easier for us to continue to slip.
Let’s say that you have been killing it, not drinking any Soda-Pop. Then you have pizza one night and you think, “Man a Soda would be really tasty with this. I’ll have just one drink!”
That one drink turns into a whole bottle of soda.
Then that turns into a soda every day.
And that turns into 2 sodas every day!
Do you see how it just keeps getting easier and easier to keep slipping?
In the beginning, we allow ourselves to indulge “just a little”. We find that that didn’t hurt us. So we keep going.
This happens with everything.
Like working out, eating right, looking at porn, drinking alcohol, watching too much TV, and pretty much anything.
I’ll just watch this one show. Then before you know it you have binged watched 5 seasons of that tv show!
Take Action
My big question to you is what if anything could you use more self-discipline or self-control in?
Pause for a few seconds and think about it.
What is one small thing that you can add to help give you more control?
For me when I start to let my mind lose control I decided that I will open up the bible app and read one verse.
Why do I keep it so simple?
Because if I say I’m going to read a whole chapter, my mind thinks “wow that’s a lot to read, I think I’m just going to do something else.”
What are you going to do to gain discipline?
Prayer
Lord, Today we come to you with hearts that are full of joy and love. We are so grateful that you have given us the opportunity to have discipline and self-control. God we are grateful for the lives you allow us to live. God, we would like to ask you for your forgiveness. Please forgive us for not having the self-control we might have lost. Forgive us for our sins and help us to forgive others for the sins they have committed against us. Help to remember that we are all sinners. And it is only through your son that we can be saved. God, please give us the strength to overcome our obstacles and grow closer to you with every step that we take.
We ask all these things in your precious son’s name.
Amen
A Little More
I’d like to take you back to Jenna’s and my first trip that we took by ourselves, without the kids for the first time in 16 years.
Last year about this time we were getting ready to head to Mexico for our first-ever trip out of the country. And not only that our first that we had taken just the two of us since we had kids.
I was bound and determined to make this trip EPIC.
We got up early and headed to the airport. We were both a little nervous. I mean this was the first time in 16 years that we were leaving our kids for any amount of time.
Not only were we leaving them at home, but we were also leaving the COUNTRY!!!!
Nervous might have been an understatement.
We got to Mexico no problem!
As soon as we got to the resort we shot the kids a text letting them know that we were there and all was good.
Then it was time to start exploring.
I threw on my shorts, and Jenna immediately put her sunglasses on! Lol
Then we headed out of the room. Today was all about seeing what was available before we headed back to the room for more exploring. Lol
We walked down to the beach and enjoyed the ocean for a while. Then we walked over to a pyramid that was like their church.
As we walked over there we started to notice all of the iguanas that were around.
It was wicked cool to see them. The more we looked the more we saw them.
So far it was an amazing experience for both of us.
Then came the fun part, especially for me.
We were heading back towards the room…….
When we…….
Saw Russell Brunson and Todd Dickerson.
The founders and creators of Click funnels.
You didn’t expect me to say that, did you? lol
Anyways……..
We had a great conversation with them, and then we continued back to the room.
That evening we found a few things that we wanted to do while we were there. Like ziplining, swimming in some caves, canoeing in the caves, and going 4-wheeling.
If you know me and Jenna you know that we LOVE rocks and caves!!!!!
All of these were absolutely amazing.
We thoroughly enjoyed our week in paradise. And the best part was that I was able to fill Jenna’s love tank by spending some MAJOR quality time with her. It was GREAT for both of us.
It never ceases to amaze me how much alike we are.
On our way home we talked about if it would be worth going back. And we both decided that YES it would be worth it.
But……
Next time we wanted to take the kids with us to share this experience with them.
As I think about it brings me such sweet memories. and I know that Jenna and I are going to continue to build memories that we will always be able to look back on and see just how great our lives have been and how much we have been blessed.
If you ever get the chance to spend time with someone you love. Do it!
Until next time.
Dan Greer
Prayer
Lord, today we come to you with HAPPY hearts. We are so grateful that you give us the opportunity to change the lives of those around us. We are grateful that you give us the wisdom to change our lives and the lives of those around us. And you make it so simple. We can do it with a single smile. God today I would ask that you help us to smile more. The next time we see someone down, help us to smile for them. The next time we are down, help us to remember that you gave us the best gift ever. The ability to know you, your son, and the holy spirit. God, we are so grateful for everything you give us.
We ask all these things in your Precious Son's Name
Amen
A Little More
The other day I got a call from one of our clients.
I love talking to our clients so I always smile when I answer the phone.
“Hey Dan, one of my drivers is pulled over and they are saying that our permit doesn’t cover what we weigh. Isn’t that why we hire your team to make sure that these things don’t happen!”
My smile immediately vanished.
I was shocked because my team is amazing. and it’s not like them to miss something like 20,000 lbs on a permit.
So, I asked him, “Who have you been working with, and who was the one who called our team to get the permit?”
To get to the bottom of the problem I needed the details.
They gave me the details.
My next call was to my team. Then after I got the details I got them started on getting new permits to get the problem fixed. I’m a solutions guy, not an excuses guy.
But I NEED to know the real reason why it happened so that we can fix the issue.
My next call was to the driver so that I could see exactly what happened.
I knew he was going to be upset. He was pulled over and they were going to give him a HUGE ticket. I wouldn’t be happy either.
so……
I made sure not to smile when I made the call. I had a serious look on my face. As we chatted I learned that he was the person who gave his weight to our team. I asked where he got the weights from and how in the world they were off by over 20K lbs!
That’s when he told me that he might have gotten the wrong scale ticket from the weigh station where he originally weighed.
Immediately my heart leapt with joy, this is NOT our fault!
Now to get the problem resolved and get this driver back on the road was my only goal. I was not going to assign blame or make anyone feel bad.
Hey, we all make mistakes. I do it multiple times every single day.
The owner of the company shot me a text. I'm getting permits from the big guys. They won’t make these mistakes that cost me time and $$$$$.
No problem. Let me know if you need anything. We are here to help.
Well……..
After they called the “BIG Guys” they called me about 30 minutes later.
Hey, we can’t get an Idaho permit until Monday. It’s Friday night. And we need to drop this load off tomorrow afternoon.
I told him that I would NOT make any promises.
But my team went to work!
Guess what????
We got the permits that the “BIG Guys” couldn’t get.
My team had the Idaho permit in less than 20 minutes. For the right weight this time.
Here’s the point of all this.
When things don’t go right, smile. I have taught my whole team this.
That right there is how we got the permits. They smiled as they worked and it didn’t take any time at all.
Ok, there might be a little knowledge that went into this too. Lol
Next time you need anything DOT, don’t call the “Big Guys” , call the team who can get it done!
Dan Greer