Discipline
Discipline is one of the most maligned words in the English vocabulary.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines discipline as the following.
A: control gained by enforcing obedience or order
B: orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior
C: SELF-CONTROL
In my mind, and maybe it’s only in my mind, discipline has always been associated with denial of something. Practicing discipline means you will deny yourself food that is not healthy for you but is tasty. It means going to bed on time and getting plenty of sleep instead of watching that late-night movie. Discipline means that you’re going to make a concerted effort to study the word of God on a continuous basis. Discipline means that you’re going to structure your life. It means that you won’t go off impulsively doing things that are not well-planned or predetermined. It means doing exercise to keep yourself physically healthy. To many, it means the loss of spontaneity and the joy of life because of the rigidity of discipline. However, that is not true, the rigidity of discipline prepares you to do those things that are in your mind to accomplish. To do those things you really want.
In Hebrews 12:11 it says,
'For the moment, all discipline seems not to be pleasant, but painful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. '
In Proverbs 12:1 it says
'One who loves discipline loves knowledge, But one who hates rebuke is stupid. '
There are many other verses in the Bible dealing with discipline for all facets of life. But there’s a commonality about a discipline that took me 67 years to understand. So, as it says in Proverbs 12:1, I was stupid.
Benefits
There are benefits that discipline provides, such as peace, joy, happiness, and life. You may ask how does discipline provide peace, joy, happiness, and life. If you learn to eat well, you improve your chances of living well when you get older. As you get older your body is not as able to handle the food choices you’ve made all your life. Bad food choices can lead to things like diabetes, kidney failure, high blood pressure, and the list goes on and on. What we’ve done in our culture is substitute healthy eating with the hope that drugs and medicine will alleviate our bad food choices. And it hasn’t worked because the chemicals we put in our bodies to overcome our lack of discipline are killing us. Our lack of exercise turns our bodies into barely functioning physical specimens. We suffer from being overweight and in poor health because of bad eating habits, poor exercise, and a lack of discipline.
Poor financial discipline has led to so much loss. Mostly lost opportunities. We never had the discipline to prepare for the opportunities when they were available. Then we want to blame others, the government, and a lack of opportunity for our current financial health. All because we lacked the discipline to prepare for the opportunity.
Puerto Rico
A simple example. If you want to go on vacation to Puerto Rico. You know you must save the money to go. Now you can continue to buy Starbucks, go out for lunch, go to movies, pay for cable, or continue to purchase items that you don’t need. If you do, you will never go to Puerto Rico. Or you can save the money and in a short time. Find yourself on the beach in Puerto Rico with a cool drink in your hand, a warm beautiful sun in the sky, and your feet in the sand feeling refreshed, free, and happy.
So why is discipline so detestable? The reason is surprisingly simple: we don’t have a goal. If your goal is to be healthy in your later years, you’ll begin to eat properly, sleep sufficiently, and exercise habitually. We all want to be healthy as we get older, but we don’t make the connection between eating properly, sleeping sufficiently, or exercising habitually. And since we don’t the medical establishment is making billions of dollars on our bad habits and our lack of discipline.
Why do we retire poorly? There is more than ample information regarding investing for the future. If we were to invest a small amount of money starting at a young age, we would retire comfortably with sufficient money to get through our latter years. All it takes is a little bit of discipline, and you can retire well.
If you’re a Christian and your goal is to enter the Kingdom of God. Envision walking into the presence of God. How do you want to look? Do you want to walk into the presence of God with “the peaceful fruit of righteousness”? Or do you want to walk into his presence as someone who is “stupid?” Salvation is free. However, we can walk into the presence of God exhibiting the grace of God by the discipline that we practiced while we were here on this earth. Have you studied the word of God? Have you meditated on the word of God? Have you spoken to God? Has your life been one of discipline where you have sought after God with all your mind? You see, God is a loving God, but he’s a just God.
Rewards
The Bible says God rewards those who seek him. And it says that Jesus will return with rewards. If God is a rewarder of those who seek him, and Jesus is going to return with the rewards with him, who do you think is going to receive the rewards? Those who diligently sought him. Those who had the discipline to invest in a relationship with him. That’s not to say that we will not be rewarded in this life at this time because we are, and we will be, but it requires discipline.
Discipline in the short and long term is the doorway that leads to the desires of your heart. Without discipline, you will never accomplish what’s in your mind.
What makes discipline work, and worthwhile is the goal. Discipline without goals is extremely difficult. We are not disciplined because we do not have goals. There is nothing that we want that is beyond our current capacity to achieve. Anything that is within our capacity does not require discipline. It requires work. Work that we know we are capable of doing.
If you’re wondering why discipline is so difficult for you, look at your priorities and goals. If you have neither, you will not have the backbone to be disciplined. If you live for the here and now, you will not have the greater later. Without discipline, you will not retire well. You will not be healthy. You will not walk into the Kingdom of God with “the peaceful fruit of righteousness”.
Discipline, in the end, brings you freedom. Freedom to go on vacation, freedom to retire well, freedom to live healthy, freedom to have a wonderful relationship with God. It will separate you from the rest. It will provide you peace, wealth, health, happiness, and Joy in the presence of God