P90X for Jesus

A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. Proverbs 25:28

If I am honest my city was invaded a long time ago and I’ve been living in subjection to a new master for some time. I am in many ways a slave to self-indulgence and comfort. For months now I have had a strong and pressing conviction from the Holy Spirit that my lifestyle needs to change, but my soul is so sick that on many occassions after recognizing this conviction I have simply said, “I don’t want to.” The results have been that this self-indulgence, like a poison, has spread rapidly into every area of my life and I am, in many ways,  a man without self-control. I consume constantly, at every moment, and indulge my desire at every turn. I give little time and attention to my spiritual malnutrition and I need, desperately, a self-discipline jump start to get me moving in the right direction. That is just what I aim to do.

We have some friends who just started working out with P90X. This is the super insane workout regimine that requires new diets, hours of physical excertion, and a general change in your lifestyle. It occured to me, then, as they were explaining their new disicpline that this is what I need for my spiritual life. I need a P90X for Jesus. I need something that will force me to change my habits, break some connections, and start up some much needed new styles of living. So for the next three months I am doing a self-discipline boot camp and it involves a break from a lot of pop-culture and other lifestyle elements.

The “workout” is in three phases.

Phase 1: An immediate break (starting in February) from all leisure internet, television/movie watching, and video game playing. As well as the addition of the gradual decline of my addictive coffee intake.

Phase 2: A complete break from all coffee and a refusal to buy any more unnecessary items for myself (especially music and books).

Phase 3: I requirement to be out of my house for at least three evenings a week spending time with non-Christians.

Though some may see this as a legalistic attempt to change my spirituality, I know that my habits are such that I will grow more and more lazy and self-absorbed over time if a drastic change does not occur. This is my self-control jump start. This is my attempt to make a start to real change in how I spend my time. If I cannot say Jesus is my first love then I need to make changes. I won’t ever be perfect, I know that (thankfully so does Jesus), but that’s no excuse for not progressing in holiness.

My hope is to write a monthly update to give some continued insight into how the process is going and to post it here at CAPC. My prayer is that there will be good evidence of change in my heart as there is forced change in my life. It’s time to rebuild the walls to my city!