We have exaggerated ideas about our capabilities. We like to think we can do it all. But no matter how disciplined you are or how hard you try, without a \u2018sane estimate of your capabilities\u2019, you\u2019re setting yourself up to fail. John Ortberg says: \u2018Willpower is\u2026finite\u2026You don\u2019t get separate stockpiles for different areas\u2026That\u2019s why a long list of New Year\u2019s resolutions is almost certainly doomed\u2026It takes a whole lot of willpower to get on an exercise\u2026programme to lose weight\u2026If you add on the list: get on a budget\u2026keep your office clean, and read Calvin\u2019s Institutes every week, you set yourself up for failure\u2026For most of us\u2026our wills get depleted\u2026more quickly than our bodies.\u2019 Ortberg suggests these: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
1: Schedule your most important tasks for when your willpower is strongest. For many people, that\u2019s the morning. One study shows prisoners have a better shot at parole if their case is heard in the morning when the judge has a higher reserve of willpower and is more inclined to take a chance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
2: Spend willpower wisely by not taking on too many tasks at once, even after you have prayed about them. Generally, God works through your will, and He seldom gives you a free pass to disregard the laws of finitude He created. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
3: Set goals \u2013 but not too many. Lacking a few, we drift, but having an overabundance means we worry about them, accomplish less, and suffer emotionally and physically. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
4: Remember that the one act of your will that replenishes willpower instead of depleting it is surrender. God meant for prayer, solitude, worship, and meditation to be done in a way that restores us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We have exaggerated ideas about our capabilities. We like to think we can do it all. But no matter how disciplined you are or how hard you try, without a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-word-for-today"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.toddingtonbaptist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.toddingtonbaptist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.toddingtonbaptist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.toddingtonbaptist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.toddingtonbaptist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=448"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.toddingtonbaptist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":450,"href":"http:\/\/www.toddingtonbaptist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448\/revisions\/450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.toddingtonbaptist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.toddingtonbaptist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.toddingtonbaptist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}