Discipline

Proverbs 10:17
He who heeds discipline shows the way to life,
but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.

Are you among the thousands of people who are trying to lose weight this month? How much weight? Twenty pounds? Thirty? Forty?

A goal like that cannot be reached in a day. Some people attack a long term goal like that with a short term frame of mind. They get frustrated with their slow progress and quit before they’ve accomplished what they set out to do.

A long term goal requires discipline. Seeking God requires discipline.

Discipline means correction, training, and restraint (among other things). This is how we affect change. Going on a diet means you're going to show some restraint at meal time, train yourself to be wise between meals, and correct bad habits by replacing them with good habits.

If you “heed discipline” then you’ll pay attention to the correction and let the new good habits stick with you.

There are those who ignore the scriptures by saying that they’re spiritual and they’re meant for church. But God gave us wisdom in the Bible to use in every area of our lives. The same scriptures that help us seek God also help us correct physical problems and social problems.

In this age of indulgence and immediate gratification, discipline is a rare tool. It’s the key to many things. It helps a piano student prepare for a performance. It helps a marathon runner finish the race. And it helps us maintain our relationship with God.

As with any tool, if discipline is used regularly, you get better at it.