Border Patrol is everything you do on purpose to keep yourself safe. You'll have the constant sentries on the walls (things you do every day, possibly multiple times a day, like MAN PWR goals) and you'll have the soldiers waiting in the garrison for when the enemy is actually at the gates (your "as-needed" strategies like "Notice it, Name it, Flip it, Find it"). But to keep your guards in the garrison sharp you'll need to drill them often while you're not under attack.
The best Border Patrols will protect all four walls of your city. The New Testament tells us what those four walls are.
There are only a handful of verses in all of Scripture that tell us what Jesus Christ's teenage years were like. Of those verses, there is only one in the four gospels. This one sentence summarizes 18 years of the Savior's life. Please consider, how important this one verse must be if it's all we get for this period of His life?
The scripture is Luke 2:52 "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." In other words, He developed intellectually, physically, spiritually, and socially. If the Savior of the world needed to grow in these four areas, don't we need to do the same? If we want to be adequately protected from the armies of the Adversary, we need to have activities in place that will defend each of these walls.
Many of the people I work with, especially those just beginning their journey towards addiction recovery, tend to primarily protect their Spiritual wall. Most of them feel that if they are doing enough spiritual activities they will be fine. This is a very risky approach to war and there is a story in the Book of Mormon about what happens if we do this.
Towards the end of the war started by Amalickiah and continued by his brother Ammoron, Captain Moroni joins forces with Chief Judge Pahoran and they lay siege to the city of Nephihah. The Lamanites inside the city are too smart to leave their place of protection to attack the Nephites, so Captain Moroni finds another strategy. In the middle of the night he climbs up the city wall and spies on the Lamanite army. The entire army is camped by the Eastern wall, which is where the only way in and out of the city is located, and they are all asleep. Captain Moroni rushes back to his army, wakes everybody, and commands them to hastily prepare ropes and ladders. They then hurry to the Western wall and climb down inside. When the Lamanites wake up they discover the entire Nephite army is inside the city walls, and the only intelligent option available is to abandon the city Nephihah and flee. Captain Moroni and Chief Judge Pahoran retook the city without losing a single soldier while the Lamanites lost the city and many soldiers in the attack. (Alma 62:18-26)
Protecting your spiritual wall is crucial to defending your city, but don't go so far that it is protected at the expense of your other walls. There must be a balance. You must be learning true things, making healthy and meaningful connections with family and others, using your physical body for good, as well as reading your scriptures and saying your prayers. These things need to be done everyday, everyday, everyday.
With that understanding, it is important to know that Captain Moroni didn't fortify Zarahemla in a day. It took a long time to add each new line of defense. First Moroni's soldiers had to dig a large ditch all the way around the city and pile the dirt they dug into a tall mound. Then they built a timber wall on top of the ridge of dirt. When that was done they topped the timber wall with a picket, then built towers, then ways to keep the people in the towers safe, and lastly, they stocked the towers with rocks they could throw at attackers.
It takes time to build an effective personal Border Patrol. It helps to learn from those who came before you, but there will be some trial and error you will need to experience on your own. Analyzing the battles you lose and the close calls you manage to win will be some of your best resources as you develop and personalize your Border Patrol.
I don't want to give too many ideas for specific Border Patrol activities, using your creativity is vital to long-term success, but here are a few suggestions to get you started.
Spiritual:
- Daily prayer
- Daily scripture study
- Regular participation (not the same as attendance) in church meetings
- Frequent participation in temple ordinances
Intellectual:
- Pursue a new hobby/Passion Project
- Study a subject that interests you
- Learn/practice a different language
- Anything that helps you learn principles of truth
- "Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand; Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms" (Doctrine and Covenants 88: 78-79)
- "....seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom, seek learning even by study and also by faith;" (Doctrine and Covenants 109:7)
Social:
- Family Home Evening
- Wholesome recreational activities (The Family: A Proclamation to the World)
- Minister to someone
It is also important to note that no intelligent commander of a city would have only one guard on each wall. The best Border Patrols include several small activities for each wall. These activities should be spread throughout the day, rather than clumped together in the evening. A brilliant enemy would surely notice if the guards on the walls only patrolled once a day, but were largely absent the rest of the time. If you were a brilliant military tactician spying on a city you wanted to conquer and saw that sentries only patrolled the walls once a day, at the same time everyday, how would you take advantage of the situation?
One of Satan's primary tactics will be to try and get you to forget about your Border Patrol activities, creating a reminder system will be crucial to long-term success. Many people initially set reminders on their phone, I've discovered that for most people this works well for about three to seven days. After that time many warriors will begin to ignore their reminders, so it is important to change them up. Using physical reminders can be very helpful.
I used to place a large rock in the middle of my bedroom floor to remind me to pray. After my brother stubbed his toes on it three or four times I decided to switch it to a tripwire. I figured that since I woke up earlier than he did it would hurt him less. I also figured that if I forgot to pray then feeling the rope against my ankles would remind me. If I forgot about the rope and tripped then I could pray while I was down on the floor. That plan worked well for me (and let my brother's toes heal). Other physical reminders that work well are bracelets, hanging a string from a doorway at eye-level, notes on pillows or bathroom mirror, or similar things.
Another effective reminder system is to associate Border Patrol activities with things you already do everyday. For example, for as long as I can remember my father has read his scriptures while he was eating his breakfast. By associating those two things he almost never forgets or neglects his personal study of the scriptures.
One other way to help yourself remember is to create a specific time everyday when you will do your Border Patrol. For most of my life my mother would wake up before my siblings and I started getting ready for school so that she had some quiet time that she could communicate with God and study her scriptures. I have many memories of coming to the living room early in the morning to find my mom reading from her scriptures, already filled with red underlines from the years of study she has done.
As you practice these principles of Border Patrol you'll discover what works for you and what doesn't. By consistently living these principles you will be more available and attuned to the promptings of the Holy Ghost because you will more frequently be at a Level 0 on the Chemical Scale. You will find that you will function better in all of your roles, whether that may be parent, student, child, employee, boss, sibling, instructor, or anything else.
To hire me as your life coach where we can create a plan to put the above principles into practice for you, follow this link. Fighting Like a Dragon - Life Coaching
To hire me as your life coach where we can create a plan to put the above principles into practice for you, follow this link. Fighting Like a Dragon - Life Coaching
No comments:
Post a Comment