Practice, Practice, Practice

I took piano lessons for four years, but I never learned to play. Unfortunately what I did was take first year piano lessons four times – with long intervals in between.

Now I love to sing and can read music fairly well when singing, but I’m no musician. My left hand never knows what my right hand is doing – especially when they need to be doing it together.

The problem is lack of self discipline and practice.

Life is like that. If we want to do something well, even something that comes easily to us, we must practice. Something that doesn’t come easily takes a lot more practice.

Being Christ-like definitely comes in the latter category.

It doesn’t come naturally and it doesn’t come easily.

The power to mature in the faith is freely given, but the ability to let the Spirit use that power in our lives requires hard work.

If that sounds like a paradox, it should. It is a paradox. How can something be free but “cost” a lot? All I can say is that’s the way God seems to work, or that’s the best we can do now in understanding Him.

It is a paradox that it requires both surrender and self-control of our wills. I can’t make myself a more mature Christian, only the Spirit can do that. But I can let it happen and that takes a conscious act of my will. I must work to control my will so I can surrender it.

And that involves practice – daily, regular, voluntary and planned.

All the small decisions I make every day are my practice sessions. Each time I consciously exercise my will to surrender it to Him, I strengthen the muscles I use in making Christ-like decisions.

When I feel anger rise in me at a rude shopper in the grocery store, or when I see a chance to break in at the check-out counter ahead of another person with a full basket – and I consciously reject anger as the director of my actions and I refuse to yield to my selfish impulse, I have surrendered my will to His is small ways.

Then, when a really hard one comes along, my “surrender” muscles may be strong enough to make that surrender possible.

I would like to be able to say that eventually, with enough practice, I would get so proficient at being mature like Jesus that I could expect the right muscles to respond in every situation. My reading of Scripture, especially Paul’s letters, indicates it won’t ever get that easy.

But it is worth the full-time, life-long effort, for that’s how I became a child who glorifies my Father’s name and His good and faithful servant.