Discipline

Hebrews 12:11 “No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening--it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.” NLT

I use coupons like a mad woman. If fact, I’ve held a few couponing seminars to teach others the methods that have proven effective for saving my family thousands of dollars a year. Some call me a cheap skate. I call myself smart. Coupons are a wonderful way to save money, and to me, it’s totally worth it. At one point, I was saving my family over $500 a month just by spending about 4 hours a week working on my strategies and plans. 

But there’s a catch. You can’t stop. When you first start, you don’t save as much because your bank of coupons/rebates have to get stocked. There’s not as many coupons in your stash as when you’ve been collecting them for a few weeks. If you miss a week of the Sunday inserts, you’ve messed up, and it’s sort of like starting over. Missing just one week of those precious legal counterfeit dollars is detrimental to your success. And it’s crucial that you are disciplined. If you just toss them all in an envelope and race off to the store, you will find yourself in a mess. Hours have to be spent preparing your plan, making lists, and reading coupon blogs in order to see the best deals. You may save some money with this method, but you will in no way see the same results as someone who has put in the time to prepare for shopping trip.

The author of Hebrews speaks in chapter 12 of God’s Loving Discipline. I was shocked to learn that there are at least eight definitions for the word “discipline.” While it can be used as both a noun and a verb, the indication is that discipline is used to make us better. Leading a disciplined life, receiving discipline in the form of punishment, and disciplining ourselves to learn a new skill all point to bettering ourselves for something else to come. It’s important, and the Bible speaks very clearly that discipline is a good thing, although painful. But Hebrews’s author is clear. The purpose of discipline is to make us more like Him. And it brings about a “peaceful harvest of right living.” Isn’t that a beautiful term? 

When we are lazy and unintentional in our spiritual lives, we need to expect the same results. Not devoting our time to prayer, Bible Study, and worship will only lead to a relationship that is stale and lacking in fervor. Where our time is spent will become the treasure of our hearts. 

Likewise, healthy living requires discipline. If we are intentional in our nutrition and exercise, we will see a healthy body. But if we are lazy and sloppy in taking care of His Temple, we will only see likewise results. Only exercising occasionally will not help if we are not disciplined in our routines. Slipping in junk food also does detriment to the good that we are trying to do when we prepare healthy food. But the painful discipline that we adhere to will only produce a wonderful harvest if we only persevere.

Do you need to cultivate discipline? The Scripture says that He will help us if we seek it. The Bible also says that discipline is the mark of a Spirit-filled life. 

Encouragement for Today

Proverbs 3:11-12 “My child, don’t reject the Lord’s discipline, and don’t be upset when he corrects you.” NLT

Proverbs 25:28 “A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls.” NLT

Proverbs 12:1 “To learn, you must love discipline, it is stupid to hate correction.” NLT

1 Corinthians 9:27a “I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should...” NLT

Expensive

It’s too Expensive

Read Matthew 25:14-30

Matthew 25:29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. NLT

My co-worker was exasperated. She had just gone to the grocery store and was shocked at the price of fresh produce. She had recently become interested in a life-style change but was frustrated quickly after her first grocery shopping trip. “I can’t believe how much it costs to feed my family a healthy diet for just a week! My bill this week was 30% more than I normally spend, and I just don’t have that every week,” she said. She was discouraged. Desperately wanting to model better habits for her children, she had committed but was worried she just couldn’t keep it up.

Many people blame their poor food choices on the opinion that eating healthy just costs more. In reality, this isn’t always the case. Need a quick snack? A candy bar costs roughly $1.29 versus $0.50 for a lunchbox apple. Didn’t have time for breakfast? Forget the $3.00 you would normally spend at the donut shop and opt for a $2.25 bowl of steel-cut oatmeal at Starbucks. For dinner, try using ground turkey instead of ground beef and save $1.00/pound, as well as about 50 calories and several fat grams per serving. 

There are also other factors to consider when changing your eating habits. Eating at home is always healthier and certainly saves on the pocketbook over dining out. As you lose weight and gain muscle, clothing choices will explode and the price tag gets smaller! As you become healthier, doctor bills come less often and premiums for health and life insurance decrease. When looking at the bottom line, it all comes down to looking at the return on your investment.

Matthew’s Gospel records the Parable of the Three Servants who were entrusted with their master’s money. Two of the servants invested the money entrusted to them, and one dug a hole and just hid the money in the ground. In the end, the first two servants doubled their’s while the third merely held onto his initial endowment. The Master was quite pleased with the first two servants, but threw out the third servant, angry that the servant didn’t even make an attempt. 

God has given us gifts, in today’s case, our physical bodies to care for and nourish. When we fill them with unhealthy food, chemicals, and processed substances, we have not profitably invested in the body that God, our Creator, has entrusted to us. We will not see a profitable return on our investment if we continue to make unhealthy food decisions and refuse to burn the energy that our food provides. Like the master in the parable, our Master expects us to use our body to glorify Him, and that takes an investment. Remember also, not only has He created us, He has purchased us with His blood. 

How will you invest? Investing the time and treasure to living a more pleasing lifestyle to honor God with our body will ultimately pay off in the end. The investment in the temple that God has created you to be will earn great rewards.

Encouragement for Today:

Proverbs 28:26 Those who trust their own insight are foolish, but anyone who walks in wisdom is safe. NLT

Proverbs 21:20 In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has. NIV

Proverbs 21:5 Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty. NLT



Here is a quick list of healthy foods under $1
Eggs
Yogurt
Apples
Bananas
Individual Portions of Nuts
Carrots
Onion
Sweet Potatoes
Garlic
Tea
Cabbage
Individual String Cheese Sticks
Beans
Lentils
Chicken Breast (Per Serving)
Canned Tuna
Canned Salmon
Milk (per Serving)
Wholegrain Pasta
Brown Rice
Quinoa
Popcorn (No Butter of course)
Kiwi
Cantaloupe
Watermelon (per Serving)
Pears
Oranges
Tomatoes
Lettuce (an entire head)
Squash
Broccoli
Water
Coffee

How I Shaved $12000 a year off our family budget

Several years ago, I started looking for more, better, and practical ways to save money. Pastors don't make a lot, and the Bible urges us to be good stewards of the resources He gives us. In addition, I realized that the old saying, "A penny saved is a penny earned," is actually true. I've just sat down this morning and realized that this past year, I have shaved over $12,000 off our family's expenditures. I'm pretty impressed with myself if I do say so myself! Here's how I did it:

• Couponing: Apparently, couponing has become a fad. I didn't start it because it was trendy. I started couponing to provide for my family. I admit that I have become obsessed with finding any and all available coupons, but because I am so spastic, I am able to save $5200 a year! Before I started using coupons, my family's weekly grocery budget (including food, pet food, and cleaning supplies) averaged at $150/week. Thanks to my thrifty attitude, I have cut that budget to only $50/week. (I will post more details on how I do this later).
  
• Newspaper subscription: I was spending $15/month on a newspaper subscription before, but I noticed that really, the only thing it was getting used for was the coupons and to use the leftover paper as a fire starter in the fire place. Any interesting stories I want to read are available online for free! I have a weekend-only subscription for the newspaper (for coupons only) for only $6/month! I saved $108 a year by cutting the paper!
• Trash Service: My trash service made me incredibly angry last year when they didn't pick up my trash for 3 whole weeks but wanted to bill me for it. I terminated my account with the service and started dropping my trash off in the dumpster at church. Now, I know that this is not realistic for most people, but our church's dumpster is only used once a week when the janitor comes and it is NEVER full. In addition, we recycle and use the garbage disposal, so our waste is kept to a minimum. If there is nowhere for you to dump the trash, consider trying to reduce your waste to a bare minimum and sharing one service with a neighbor or friend. Most companies allot you 4 trash bags/week, and if you cut each of your trash to only 2 bags, you can get away with it! This saves me $300/year!
• Eating Out: We all know that eating out frequently costs a lot of money, but it was costing us a LOT of money. Since I started couponing, my cupboards and freezer are WELL stocked, and a lot of food was going to waste just because I was too tired (and lazy) to cook. We have cut our eating out to special occasions and Sundays only. I prepare one meal on Monday night and cook enough to last for Tuesday's dinner as well. I only cook 3-4 times a week, and it's enough to last the entire week! This saved us $3000/year!
• Cell Phone Plan: There is no way to avoid having a cell phone in this day and time. It goes without saying that if you still have a land line, turn it off! It is a needless service with cell phone plans that are available. At any "rate," Heath and use ATT as our cell phone carrier, and we use the 700 shared minutes as our "base plan." Most people have no idea, however, that you can yo-yo your cell phone plan. I closely monitor our cell phone usage. When we get close to the edge of our minutes allotment, I change the rate plan to the next plan up, in our case, the 1400/month plan. With the 1400/month plan, we are able to set up our A list. This list allows us to choose 5 people that we call the most, make a list of them, and these minutes are "free." One month, we use the 1400/month plan with the A list, and this ALWAYS banks us rollover minutes. The next month, I change our plan back to the 770 minutes/month plan, and we use up those rollover minutes. Yo-Yo cell phone plans have saved us $120/year. It may not seem a like a lot to most people, but that's savings nonetheless! Here's another option to consider: We all know that adding a line to our plan is fairly simple and only adds $10/month (without data plan of course). Consider sharing a plan with CLOSE friends or family to save you all money in the end!
• Cable Television: Several months ago, we were faced with a major deduction in our income, and we were looking for drastic deductions in our budget as well. One of the few things we could come up with was to turn off our cable television. I admit, this one was painful for me. We were paying $50/month previously for cable, and this cut that expense totally. How do we survive, you ask? We watch Hulu.com, bought a subscription to Netflix streaming for only $7.99/month, and we log on periodically to TV networks' websites to watch our favorite shows after they've aired. To be honest, we really haven't missed it, it's been good for the kids, and it's saved us $600/year!
• Heating Source: Two years ago, we bought a 2800 square foot house. It's great to have so much room, but the first electric bill I received after it turned cold sent me into shock! Our utilities doubled. I decided that month that we had to do something, so I turned to the beautiful fireplace for help. We actually started using the beautiful fireplace for more than an eye-catching feature to our living room. We called around for the best prices on firewood, and voila! We've saved $1200/year by switching to wood heat!
• Rewards Points: We use credit cards...gasp! I know, Christians aren't supposed to use credit cards, BUT I've figured out a way to save WHILE using credit cards. We have disciplined ourselves to use them responsibly and to pay off the balance in full each month to avoid paying fees and interest. In return, our credit score has skyrocketed, giving us the opportunity for the highest tier of cards with our credit card companies. These cards pay you for using them in the form of reward points. Every time we make a purchase with these cards, we earn reward points which in turn earn us prizes such as gift cards, gas cards, electronics, and even toys. Disciplined use of these cards has saved us on average $520/year!
• Hotel Rewards: We travel a lot for the church, family vacations, and due to the fact that our family lives so far away. I realized a few years ago, that most hotel chains have a rewards program that reward you for staying at their hotels. Every time you stay at their hotel, you accrue points, earning yourself a free night's stay, sooner or later. We average 1 free night at a hotel a year. Not a lot you say? That's $100/year more that I didn't have!
• Gas Rewards: This past summer, we were planning to take a LONG road trip, and by this time, I was already in the "savings" groove. I was looking for deals and coupons on everything from attractions, to food, to even gas! Gas was so expensive this summer, and my current credit cards were only earning me 3% rewards. I was at my local gas station, and saw an advertisement for a gas credit card that promised a 5 center per gallon savings. I read the fine print and realized that for "well-qualified" applicants, you could save 5% a gallon. This worked out to a whopping 18 cents a gallon at that time! You are limited to a savings of $15.00 a month, which we usually hit, but this has saved us $180/year!
• Sewing and Embroidery: I used to watch my grandmothers and ladies in my church sew, but I never really had much of an interest until I realized that I could save money by doing it. Not only have I developed a new skill, but I am able to make all of my kids' pajamas for half the price that I would pay in store. In addition, I sew my daughter's "fancy" dresses, and I was able to make costumes for my church's live nativity this year. Also, I've discovered that articles of clothing that I would've previously discarded can be mended, AND I can make inexpensive baby/wedding gifts, saving us about $340/year. In addition, I have been asked to make holiday stockings, baby burp cloths and bibs for hire! Not only am I saving money here, but I'm earning it too!
  
• Bartering: I was looking at ads on craigslist for firewood, and I noticed one poster said that they would trade for their firewood. This got me to thinking that if he would do this, others might do it as well. This year, we have been able to trade unneeded items for our firewood, saving us $300 already this year!
• Babysitting: Babysitting has long been an expensive luxury for my husband and I. But I've found a solution. Several of my friends and I were talking the other day about the fact that we can never go out with our husbands because we can't find (or afford) quality child care. We decided that we would trade with each other in order to avoid this expense. While I watch their kids this Friday night, they watch mine tomorrow night, giving us free, quality childcare, AND investing in one another's families. It's a win/win situation, and if we do this once a month, it will save us $360/year!
• Tithes and Offerings: You may be asking how giving money saves you money. I can't explain it, but giving God what belongs to Him ALWAYS makes sense. It may not make sense with pencil and paper, but it makes sense when we trust in God to provide for our needs. We never need put trust in our jobs, our checkbooks, our bank accounts, and our own resources to provide. Paying our tithe PLUS an offering may be an obedience issue for you at first, but it will become a love issue eventually. I invest in God's ministry because I believe in it. Giving an offering above my tithe tells God that I love Him, and it's the very least I can do to thank Him for providing for my family.