Cultivating a Heart of Discipline at Home

Do you ever wake up and look around your house and feel defeated? Discouraged before the day begins? Today I’m talking about how we can cultivate self discipline in our homemaking.

It’s easy when you feel overwhelmed to just ignore the problem – indefinitely. You walk into a room and the piles of clutter just seem too great. Or you open that closet door and you shudder at the thought of cleaning out the junk – even though you can barely push the door shut. It’s easy to close the door {even figuratively speaking} and simply walk away and do something more pleasant.

But, does that really make your life easier? Is life more simple and less stressful when we ignore the problem at hand in favor of doing something that brings us comfort and enjoyment?

Probably not. In fact, I’d dare say, very rarely will ignoring a problem ever make the problem better… and it might even make the problem grow even bigger.

For the woman who lacks self discipline, a neat and tidy house may seem like a far off dream – something that will never happen. She may wake up in the morning to a dirty kitchen and immediately feel dismay.

So, before she makes breakfast, she must clean the kitchen.

A woman with self discipline would see to it that the breakfast dishes were immediately washed or placed in the dish washer once breakfast was over. Now, a job that would have taken less than ten minutes will take thirty or more when she must clean up the kitchen before supper can be prepared.

She feels overwhelmed by the mess and often wonders why she can’t “get it together.”

If you often feel discouraged and overwhelmed by homemaking, then you probably lack self-discipline in some areas of your life.

What Does it Mean to Have Self Discipline?

Having self discipline basically means that you do what you know needs to be done even when you don’t feel like it. You may be disciplined in some areas of your life and need some improvement in others. The good news is that it is possible to cultivate a heart of discipline. The Bible says:

For the Spirit of God… gives us self discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7

The fact is, messiness is really just a way of life for a lot of us. We have bad habits. Bad habits that pile up like paper clutter and shoes on the mudroom floor. Or laundry. Laundry piles up way to fast!

Establishing good habits is the key to overcoming messiness. And good habits begin with self-discipline.

Unfortunately, for many of us, instead of being disciplined we find ourselves procrastinating instead of doing chores – or we don’t manage our time efficiently.

Being a homemaker means that you have a lot on your plate every day. Whether you stay home full time or work outside the home, homemaking is a challenge. Many of us were not well prepared for the role of homemaking. In fact, many of us often feel overwhelmed when it comes to managing a home, using our time efficiently, and raising a family.

But, the Spirit of God will give us self discipline if we just ask! Isn’t that good news?

Of course, you have to be willing to do the work of changing. But the Bible also tells us that all things are possible with God!

3 Ways to Develop Self Discipline

1. Prayer. There have been many times in my life where I have prayed consistently that God would help me overcome a bad habit. Everything from being impatient with my kids to biting my nails. God is all about giving us the power to overcome bad habits.

2. Accountability. Ask a friend to help you stay accountable as you work to develop good habits. Let them come alongside you and cheer you on and remind you of your goals when you struggle.

3. Baby Steps. Instead of trying to add in too many good habits all at once, focus on one or two new habits until you’ve mastered those. Then you can work on another one.

I believe you can train yourself to be self disciplined at home.

related: The Disciplined Homemaker Class: (a 30 Day Course for Homemakers)

It takes work. But you can do it!

And I’m here to help.

Feel free to email me: melissaringstaff@avirtuouswoman.org and ask me any question about cultivating a heart of discipline at home and I will do my best to answer.

We can do this together!

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