Happy new week to you saints!
The Lord will have me teach you on discipline this week so let’s get right into it shall we?
Actually he’s teaching us both because some things He instructed me to share is also a teaching for my heart on things I fall short on as well.
Apostle Paul writes to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:7-8 and instructs him to exercise himself unto godliness. It is not a suggestion neither is it something that should be glossed over. The word exercise was not just used for its lexical value. The word exercise in Greek is gymnazō which means has exercising vigorously in any way either of the body or mind. It is a vigorous arduous labour. It is a call to deliberate pursuit. Athletes do not stumble into strength. They become who they need to be by answering the arduous call of discipline. They submit their bodies to training. They practice, they endure, they say no to comfort so that they can say yes to something greater. The athlete knows what discipline demands from him. He rises early, pushes his body past comfort, says no to pleasures that others easily indulge, all because there is a goal before him. He disciplines himself because the prize is worth it.
And so it is with us.
God invites us into discipline. Not because He delights in watching us strain, but because He knows this is how our hearts are formed.
Spiritual growth and spiritual discipline is not something you roll into like you roll onto your bed. It is an intentional act in which you must choose daily to deny yourself and feed your Spirit. Discipline teaches us to say no to lesser things so we can say yes to the more necessary thing. It teaches us that our appetite for what pleases God grows only when we feed it deliberately. You cannot water a plant and it would not shoot up. In the same way, you cannot feed yourself on the word of God and not grow into a disciplined version of yourself.
Discipline is not a punishment. It is an invitation. It is the Spirit taking you by your hand, saying let me lead you in my way. Let Him teach you how to crave what matters. Let Him anchor you in truth that holds steady in all things.
So , I pray that as you go about your day today
