This post actually has nothing to do with the Harris brothers’ book by the same title. But, as I was thinking of titles for this blog, that is what came to mind. Others that came to mind: Things I Learned from Randy Stinson, Spiritual Laziness, What I Don’t Like To Do, but Need To. The Do Hard Things stuck and is shorter.
So…what am I talking about? One of the best part of my jobs while administrative assistant in Louisville was transcribing my boss’ talks or sermons. Sometimes I get to hear them live, but other talks I basically memorized because of the time I had to rewind, and rewind again to get the talks just right. It was a period of growth and memorization for me.
Mostly he spoke to men, but I learned a lot. He would tell the men that a lot of the younger generation is lazy. Not because they don’t like to do things, or they just sit around (which some of them do), but more than that he was talking about men who don’t do hard things. They may be really busy, but they don’t like doing things that are hard for them. They would rather live passively with their wives than bring up the issue that both of them know they need to deal with. They would rather let the slacker keep going at work than to confront him and call him on his laziness. They would rather play video games all day than prep for that test or sermon, or fix the toilet that is leaking in the guest bathroom. Do hard things. The boss would always say, do them first: write that note, send that email, fix that toilet, study for that test, ask that girl out, apply for that new position. Whatever is most hard for you to do – do it first, get it off the to-do this first and then you’ll have plenty of time to do the not so hard things.

So, I was thinking about this all day and really the past couple of days. There are two things in my life right now that are harder than the rest: and I haven’t done them because they wouldn’t be easy. I guess I should say I haven’t done either of them with sincere regularity, and my whole life reflects it.

Exercise/Healthy Eating. It is much easier to not exercise, to sleep in when the alarm goes off because it is cold outside, or to not run that extra 2 miles when you’ve already run 3. It is easier to eat brownies and roasted chicken than it is to eat carrots and roasted beets.

Personal Quiet Time. I spend all day writing curriculum, in books, digging into Scripture for my job. I love it. But, what I’ve not done with regularity is sit down in the morning – pre-work – and dig into the Scriptures for myself, for my soul, for my walk with the Lord.
I need to set my alarm, get out of bed, put my feet on the floor (and not hop back in bed) and do the hard things.
What are your hard things?
Is it cleaning the house?
Is it carrying on a conversation with your husband or wife?
Is it asking for accountablity?
Is it reading the Bible?
Is it exercising?
Is it cooking healthy meals for your family?
Is it asking that girl out?
Is it losing weight?
Is it serving in your local church?
Is it giving some of your income away to missions or service projects?
Is it opening your home to strangers or friends?
Is it practicing the spiritual discipline of prayer, worship, giving, evangelism?
Is it not buying any more “toys” because you already have too many?

Whatever your “hard thing” is – DO IT.
1 Timothy 4:8 “Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.