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Even though the topic of discipline is one of those non-emotional topics which doesn’t bring tears to anyone’s eyes or generate a great deal of response, it’s so essential to our lives in so many ways. To ignore the need for discipline in our lives is to invite disaster. Proverbs says, “fools despise wisdom and discipline,” (Proverbs 1:7) and ” whoever disregards discipline comes to poverty and shame” (Proverbs 13:18). It also tells us that a person who ignores discipline despises himself, and that a person can die from lack of discipline!
But we are told in Proverbs 6:23 that “the corrections of discipline are the way to life.” The Book of Proverbs is an excellent book to guide us in the necessary disciplines for a fruitful life. In the first chapter, verse 2, we see that the whole book of Proverbs was written for “receiving instruction in prudent behavior.”
Well, how about you? Does discipline come easy or hard for you? Maybe it’s easy in some places and hard in others. That’s what I find in my life. I’ve got some disciplines going really well but other disciplines are lacking. I’ve noticed that I often miss the mark on what we call some small areas where I need to be more disciplined. But they’re not really small to God because when I refuse to be disciplined even in small areas, it is in fact rebellion against God—against his control in those areas of my life.
I find myself rationalizing: “Well, I’m really a very disciplined person in the important areas; these are just little nits that don’t amount to anything.” Or the rationalization which says, “Look, you’re so disciplined in most areas of your life, you deserve some time off for good behavior. You’ve earned your right to be undisciplined here in these little things.”
But that lack of discipline is not just a little shortcoming on my part; lack of discipline is sin. James 4:17 tells us that “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.” So, let’s call lack of discipline what it is, even in those small areas: sin. That way we get God’s view of the situation, and we’re more likely to get serious about putting necessary disciplines in our lives.
Let’s talk about some typical areas where discipline is often lacking. First, there’s procrastination; putting off to a later time what we could and should do right now. Funny how we can find all the energy we need to do things we like to do, but we’re just too exhausted or too busy to get to those more unpleasant things, so we procrastinate. Can you relate to that?
Here’s a motto that I strongly encourage you to adopt: Do it right and do it now! That’s a totally biblical principle. We’re told in Ecclesiastes that “whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (9:10), and Jesus warned his disciples that “as long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work” (John 9:4).
Do it right and do it now! If that’s a discipline lacking in your life? Are your talents wasting, your goals unfulfilled, your plans and programs never getting off the ground because you keep procrastinating? It is truly a deadly bad habit.
Where have you been procrastinating lately? Why don’t you do it right and do it now, and get it off your mind? You’d be surprised how much those procrastinations are rattling around in your brain, gumming up the works, slowing down the thinking processes, keeping you from being optimally effective.
Clear the mind; do those things you know you should do. Whether they’re little ones or giant ones, they begin with the first step. If you’re like me, I’m okay once I make the first step. But oh my, it’s so difficult to make that first step sometimes.
Another area where our discipline can be lacking is that of being faithful—doing what you said you’d do. Do you know people who glibly offer to help, or promise to do something, but they have a tendency to let those things slide, forget about them, or change their mind later? If you think about it, they have developed a reputation for being unfaithful, untrustworthy, undependable. Whether it’s in business or your own personal life, that’s a very bad reputation to have. And it’s not just a little quirk in your personality; it’s sin.
Paul told the Corinthians that “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2). This is not an option for us Christians; we should be faithful, dependable people; it’s a requirement. Aren’t you glad God is faithful to you? Aren’t you glad you don’t have to worry if he’s going to be faithful today like he was yesterday? Great is the faithfulness of our God, and that should be a characteristic of those who are his children.
It may be something as small as returning a phone call or getting to work on time or sending an e-mail as you promised, but we need to be faithful in everything. And the little things are equally as important as the big ones. We are to acknowledge God in all our ways, even the most minute ones.
In fact, I’ve discovered that people who are not faithful in little areas are usually not faithful in big ones, either. You set a pattern with those little things that follow through to the others. There’s a theory in criminology—which has proven to be true—called the broken windows theory which states that visible signs of crime or civil disorder, such as broken windows, create an environment that promotes more crime and disorder. So, if you put a stop to the small crimes, it leads to less crime in general.
So, maybe you need a “broken windows theology,” to start working on being faithful in the little things and see how that carries through to the more significant ones. Those little things are not insignificant to God. Failing to discipline yourself to be faithful is deadly. It could ruin a career, destroy a friendship, or damage your good name.
Many of us lack discipline in our eating habits and how we care for our bodies. This is no small matter with God. Your body houses the blessed Holy Spirit, if you’re born from above, and that house should be as fit as possible. Yet, how few of us really treat our bodies as carefully as we should so that we provide a house for the Holy Spirit which works at optimum.
Remember, you’re going to be held accountable for all the resources which God has given to you. I’ve been given a good healthy body and a good mind, but if I fail to maintain that body so that it runs on all cylinders, God is going to hold me accountable for my use of that resource.
It’s important to keep remembering that as Christ-followers, we don’t belong to ourselves. We’ve been bought by Christ, and we belong to him. Your body is not yours to do with as you please; we are bondservants of Jesus Christ, and our bodies belong to our Master.
Quite literally, many people are dying for lack of discipline in this area: shortening their lives, wasting available energy, losing their mental capacity because they are undisciplined in their eating habits and exercise.
Another discipline that is often sadly lacking in some Christians is the discipline of spending quality and quantity time with God each day. It’s that wrong thinking that tells you your life so full that you can’t possibly put another hour into the schedule. Seems like some Christians think if they spend five or ten minutes a day reading their Bible and praying, they’ve checked that off the list and that’s all they need.
My friends, this discipline is so very needed in our lives. And it is discipline. While we are not under law and God will not forsake us if we don’t spend daily time with him, nonetheless we need that time to be able to live the way he wants us to. We need that time to develop a close relationship with Jesus and to get to know God better. It is precious time, but it does take discipline. It is pushing your feet out of the bed and putting them on the floor, regardless of how you feel.
Elizabeth Elliot wrote: “We make a huge joke about our self-indulgence and treat with amusement our failure to pull ourselves out of bed early enough to get to work without a hectic rush.” But it’s no joking matter. Spending consistent, quality time with God so that we are filled up with him before our day begins is the most important priority for our lives as Christ-followers. And it requires discipline—yes—but it is the most rewarding discipline you will ever establish.
Discipline can be learned, and the way you learn it is simply to say yes to God and no to yourself. Discipline must be exercised in spite of your feelings. Have you ever wondered what Jesus meant when he said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23)?
Jesus doesn’t mince words, does he? Look at what he says: If you want to be my disciple, this is required. I want to be Jesus’ disciple, right, and you do as well, I’m sure. So, we must deny ourselves. Isn’t that what discipline is all about—denying ourselves something we want in order to do what we know we should do and thereby reap the great benefits that come as a result? And Jesus said this is a daily requirement if you want to be his disciple. Seems to me that’s clear. You and I must be willing to be disciplined every day to be the kind of disciple that Jesus is looking for, a disciple that pleases Jesus.
Jesus also said in John 13:17: “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” Most of us have large amounts of knowledge. We have ideas and plans, we have good intentions. But the blessing comes by doing and the doing takes discipline. You are blessed not by what you know, not by your intentions, not by what you plan, but by what you do. And you do things when you are disciplined.
Paul wrote to Timothy that he should discipline himself for the purpose of godliness. Sometimes we think of godly people as people who are angelic, otherworldly beings, not like us, not of this earth. But, my friends, godly people are people who have put consistent disciplines into their lives, and simply stuck to it. Godliness is for all of us, not just for a favored few. God intends that all his children should live godly lives. But without discipline in our lives in these and other areas, godliness will not be our trademark.
Where is your discipline weak? In what areas are you dying for lack of discipline? Remember, he who ignores discipline despises himself. You do yourself great harm every day you refuse to put those needed disciplines in your life. I pray you’ll get them going this very day. You will be blessed when you do.