Sometimes you can learn from the pagans. Particularly from those who work on self-improvement. There are some things you should do every day. The list should be fairly small and attainable. Reflecting on this, I need to work on a couple of issues: music practice and diet. But the principle remains.

If at the end of the day you can look yourself in the mirror and honestly say that you did X, Y, and Z and that those things are in line with the values you’ve chosen to live by, then you’re golden. You know that you’re being congruent in your beliefs, thoughts, and actions, all of which are moving you in the right direction. Fail to actually do things that reflect your values and you’re just another one of the blind sheep who’s destined to end up miserable.

Now, why did the reformed geek quote Return of Kings? Where every second post is about picking up women for some recreational fornication? Because there s a truth there. We need to be disciplined in what we do: even the pagans know that the correct and proper way to live is not by the to do list, but by habits of discipline.

For we are told to not make accommodation for the flesh, and this requires work. We are taught that our body matters, so we have to work out. We know that beauty matters, so we need to practice those arts and talents we have: and we need to expand our mind, so we need to study, and to meditate on the word.

Fulfilling the Law Through Love

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

(Romans 13:8-14 ESV)

We need to talk with our brothers and sisters in Christ — in real life, not merely by typing something into the ether. We need to pray. And, most important, we need to love.

The disciplines we choose and the crafts and arts we do are going to vary. But what we do, we should do well: not because of competition — for there is a very short phase in our lives when any one can be a competitive athlete — 5 years for most, 10 if you are lucky — but because the way we craft our lives is by doing the same things, every day, for good or for ill.

So we need to check of our list each day. Have I done what I ought? Have I refrained from doing what I ought not? Confession is not merely something that happens on Sunday, but a means of training ourselves. Get rid of the crap takes building of habits that tolerate not the filth.

So let’s end with something that is beautiful.