Own It!

You don't own it until you experience it!

Owning Discipline

Who wants to own discipline? It sounds a little too much like punishment. That’s our first mistake when it comes to discipline. It is not punishment. We don’t own things we do not want to experience. Own a toothache? No way. Own a stubbed toe? Nope. Own a jail cell? Are you crazy? How about a good beating? I will pass. Discipline is more like a morning workout to stay in shape. It is eating your vegetables. It is cleaning your room. It is mowing your yard. It is persevering through hardship. It is accepting correction for a mistake. It is allowing God to use life’s difficult circumstances to build our character and to strengthen us for the journey. The disciplined person is a prepared person. He doesn’t put things off because they are hard. He doesn’t procrastinate when there is something to be accomplished. He pushes through the momentary pain to reap a great reward. You know you are on the way to owning discipline when you look forward to taking the test, walking two miles, tackling routine cleaning chores, and changing that stinky diaper at two in the morning.

The Hebrew writer tells us God, our Father, disciplines those He loves for our good. Unless you believe that you will not own discipline. If you think God’s discipline is His doing something against you instead of for you, then you will not put discipline in your Amazon cart. Those who follow the course of least resistance hate discipline. That is one of the traits of a fool outlined in Proverbs. A thief is merely someone who is too lazy to work. A gossiper is merely someone who is too lax to control their tongues. God values discipline. We do too. We want disciplined people to do surgery on us, fixing our cars, and renovating our homes. The only way to own discipline is to experience it, and it is the experience we often do not enjoy. What if we change our attitude about what we enjoy? Instead of bemoaning your workout, try looking forward to it and the good feeling you will have when it is done. YOU DON’T OWN IT UNTIL YOU EXPERIENCE IT.