by Dr. Amanda McElroy
“Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” Proverbs 27:1
Have you ever had an important task you needed to do, that you didn’t feel like doing, even though you have the time that day? You choose to push the task off until the next day, knowing the next day’s schedule is wide open and you would have more than enough time to complete your task. Except, the following day goes sideways, and the important task got forgotten or ignored? You’re in a bind, because the task still needs to get completed, and there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done that needs doing. I have been guilty of this many times. It adds unnecessary stress to my life, and worse, limits what I can do today! When I am trying to accomplish yesterday’s goals and today’s goals, I am behind the curve and cannot focus on tomorrow’s progress. Can you imagine how much more we could do, how much less stressed we would be, if today we chose to have the discipline to do everything we can today so tomorrow we can do everything we can tomorrow? How much more could I do for the Lord if I exercise self-discipline and choose to do everything I can today, instead of putting it off for tomorrow? This applies to every-day tasks like house chores, going to work, making today’s money today so you can make tomorrow’s money tomorrow, checking on family and friends, and much more. It also applies to not putting off until tomorrow when the Holy Spirit presses on our hearts to take time for someone else: to invite them to church, to pray for them, to write them a note of encouragement, to call or text them and see how they are doing. Do we think of someone, knowing we should reach out to them, knowing we should invite them to church with us, that we should tell them we prayed for them, and tell ourselves “I’ll do it later?”
Have you put much thought into who you will be when you are a grandparent? Will you be kind and pleasant, or grumpy and mean? Will you be someone who actively encourages those around you, checks on them, invests in their lives, and chooses to be a giver? We will be who we are becoming. Who we choose to be today, the discipline we choose to have today – or not have – affects who we will be tomorrow, and the next day, and a year from now, and a decade from now. If I want to be healthy and fit in a decade, I need to have the discipline today to eat healthy and exercise. If I want to be a kind and considerate person in twenty years, I need to have the discipline to make that a priority today. If I want to have a healthy retirement account when I’m 65, I need to have the discipline today to put money into a retirement fund. If I want to please my Savior and reach people for Him in the future, I need to have the discipline to make it a priority today. Who do you want to be tomorrow? Who do you want to be in a year? Who do you want to be in a decade? Are you making decisions today that line up with your desired future self? Sometimes, I get out of alignment with who I want to be as I grow older. I have goals, dreams, and ambitions, and sometimes I get tired and weary and lose sight of them. From time to time, I ask myself, if my teenage self could travel to the future and see who she became, would she be pleased? The answer is not always yes.
When we need to make life adjustments, with our future selves in mind, we can only focus on what we can do today. We can’t wait until a Monday to start the diet or go to the gym. We can’t wait until New Years to make resolutions on what we want to improve. We can’t put off to the beginning of the month starting to read our Bibles every morning. We must do what we can today. My future self is relying on today’s self to have discipline. Your future self is relying on today’s self to have discipline. Our future selves are relying on us to not put off until tomorrow what we can do for the Lord today!
