Theory For Practice, Excuses For Action

Theory for Practice, Excuses for Action

A professor was once asked whether, given the choice, he would rather hear a lecture about heaven or actually go to heaven. He chose the lecture. We too love talking about becoming better human beings, but when it comes to actually doing it, we’re far more interested in theory than we are in practice.

We also love to entertain our excuses. Change means giving up what’s familiar to step into the unknown. And that scares us. We’re afraid of the unknown. We’re certainly afraid of failure. So we come up with a mile-long list of excuses that keep us from acting.

One of your first disciplines must be to surrender your theory for practice, your excuses for action. You must push through your fear of the unknown, the discomfort of change, the pain of failure, knowing that—compared with the goal you’re striving for—they don’t really matter.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. —James 1:22