Presented with the question of 'how to be disciplined' by a friend not long ago, I answered the same way I had answered when I've asked myself that question in the past. I said that requesting it from God in prayer and then just doing seemed to be the answer. I probably should have explained these further, and how I had come to those conclusions, but I decided to go with the more concise answer. Anyway, he replied to the second part, reminding me that "just doing it" was discipline. Once again, I had gone through this with myself in the past, so I wasn't surprised by the remark. Nonetheless, the question stayed without me throughout the day. If becoming disciplined requires discipline, how do you ever start?
Before, I explain the answer that I came up with, let me further explain my initial response. I feel like often times those of us who have grown up in the church stray from the cliche Sunday School answers, or at least they have lost their meaning. Let me remind you that they became cliche because the actually are the answer to most of the questions. In James' letter he explains that we don't have it, because we didn't ask God for it. (This is in the beginning of chapter 4. Notice also your motives play into it, as well as faith (chapter 1)). This seems extremely simple, but how often do we actually go to God and ask Him for something, especially when it's something He desires us to have and expect Him to provide it? The second half of this point stems from the idea that discipline and self-control are synonymous in my mind. In Galatians 5 Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit. Many of you know them, but I'll list them anyway. They are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Now although I can display these things to a limited extent on my own we know that they are not the fruit of the flesh. Those are listed just prior to the fruit of the Spirit. If these things are then from God, should they not look different then when we try them in our own might? It seems that these nine traits should be of supernatural amounts in our life if we are living by the Spirit. I can feel a tangent and a sermon coming on, so I'll try to stay on track on not go to much deeper. This is all to remind us that true we can't have true-self control, it needs to come from God and be based on our relationship with Him. Again, cliche but true.
The second thing that I told him was just do it. In the past I thought asking for it and trying to do it was all that we could do. As my baseball coach always used to say, "Practice doesn't make perfect. Practice makes permanent." This is to say, that although we won't be perfectly disciplined or self-controlled, but the more we get in the habit of it, the more natural it comes. I think the key word there is habit, and don't get me wrong, I know this is much easier said then done. I definitely know. I still struggle with this often.
So now that I've explained my two part answer, lets get back to the part where this was on my mind throughout the rest of that day. Although I felt my answer was decent, and I knew I had some backing for it, I wondered what really practicing that might look like. How do you start? What are realistic goals to set? Then different things I heard cause the Spirit to remind me of the sermon I had just preached a few weeks earlier. I spoke out of Philippians 3. This passage is really well known. Paul is explaining how he lives focused on the end goal of fully knowing Jesus Christ. That was it! Whenever we are disciplined, it's because we are putting off the short-term satisfaction for the long term gratification. In summary, a person of self-control is one who consistently evaluates life's decisions through the lens of eternity. Hopefully this makes sense, but to make sure, I'll keep rambling. Whenever your struggling with being disciplined about doing or not doing something it is because you want to do the thing that matters in the long run, not the thing that is temporarily easier or more enjoyable.
What I am saying is, I still hold to my initial answer, prayer and practice. The only difference is the practice is continually reminding oneself to press on toward the goal, constantly looking forward.
So go pray, and go practice.
