Discipline is important to us having successful relationships for ourselves and others, but, do we stop to think how greatly our Christian journey is impacted by this same discipline. A lot of us take it for granted that we are being disciplined, but, if we only assess our lives we would perhaps not like what we find. Sometimes as Christians we wonder why we encounter so many challenges, is it possible we lack discipline?
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 9:27 (ESV) “I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified”. This tells me that Paul made sure he was aware of his actions and reactions towards situations and others. He aspired to be who he said he was through disciplining himself. This is a lesson to us in building credibility with others.
In Hebrews 12:11 (ESV) we are made to realize that for the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. It may seem like a huge task to ensure discipline in our lives but know that in the end it will yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness that all believers need, in the end it will be worth it. It will only take a period of committing ourselves to a daily plan of action and soon it will become a part of us. We cannot expect to achieve results in our lives without discipline and dedicated input on our part. We have to extend ourselves and go beyond our comfort zone and do the work to receive the much needed results that will create value to us as well as to others.
Self discipline goes hand in hand with self control. In Proverbs 25:28 (ESV) we are told that a man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. If we are unable to exercise self-control/discipline in our lives then we are left open for the enemy to run abound in our lives. We will fall for anything and everything. Satan rules in a life that has no self control; I know this too well as I had reacted with my emotions in a particular situation only to realize that what I did was create an opening for the enemy. I was blinded to the truth of the situation by my emotions. Now if my emotions were under check (self-control) I would have clearly seen that I should have exercised wisdom. Emotions will distort truth, we have to be aware of a bigger picture that can include deceit. We need to always think things through and respond with wisdom accordingly.