5 - Delayed Gratification

Patience brings peace!

Simply put, the principle of delaying gratification means that one hour of pain followed by six hours of pleasure is preferable to one hour of pleasure followed by six hours of pain.

Ask anyone with HIV, and they will tell you that the pleasure they first enjoyed was not worth the life they now face with the disease.

In the book The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck, delaying gratification is a process of scheduling the pain and pleasure of life in such a way as to enhance the pleasures by meeting the pain first and getting it over with. It is the only decent way to live.

“But let patience have its perfect work,
that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
—James 1:4 (NKJV)

In my experience, you do one of two things in life: 1) You can pay the price now and enjoy later, or 2) You can enjoy now and pay the price later. Regardless, you always pay a price.

Don’t be caught by today’s pleasures and blinded to the pain of tomorrow. You can pay today and enjoy life tomorrow, or you can choose your own enjoyment today and pay the price tomorrow with heavy interest. That, my friends, is hell on earth and eternal hell beyond.

“He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose.”
—Jim Elliot*

*Jim Elliot was not the first or only person to use this quote, though he had written them in his journal. It appears the earliest use was by Philip Henry, father of Matthew Henry, the famous Bible commentator.

ACTION PLAN #5

• Make a list of pleasures you can give up for a brighter future. In other words, what sacrifices are you willing to make today to secure a better tomorrow?
  

• Name at least one thing you could be doing (that you are not currently doing) which would benefit your future.
  

• What is one step you can take to begin taking action on what you wrote above?