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Honoring God Through Discipline

Posted on 04.02.2014

Three months of the New Year have passed quickly and I was impressed by the Holy Spirit that 2 Peter 1: 3-11 was my personal theme for the year as well as Isaiah 43:19. This year has brought “new things,” and I have been challenged to pursue spiritual virtues through these scriptures! The virtue I have focused on lately is discipline.

Our youngest daughter recently shared another one of her funny stories about a classmate of hers. This classmate is quite bright, and in fact, is sort of a prodigy in his particular instrument. She shared how he greatly disappointed his strict mother when he received a “D” on one of his exams. His mother told him that he lacked discipline and that he brought dishonor to the family! I cannot share exactly how she told the story in that way he had shared it with her. Her classmate thought it was quite funny how his mother, in her culture and accent, relayed her dismay.
I laughed! However, the story spoke to me loudly.

We all have discipline in our lives or we would not be where we are. Discipline is a trait that actually leads to freedom in the end. When we work diligently and faithfully to accomplish something, we are free and able to walk through new doors and opportunities.

What concerns me is that often as followers of Christ, we do not apply this principle enough to our relationship with Jesus. I look at my own life and I wonder if am I disciplined enough so that I can continue to grow. For example, I have always wanted to memorize scripture in Spanish. Recently, I decided that I would start memorizing one passage each month and recite it to my Spanish-speaking friend. I believe that this will help to get God’s Word more deeply into my spirit. I have started this routine, however, I wonder if I will stick to my plan and not let excuses get in the way. Will I keep going and not let my stressful and unrelenting work schedule stop me? God is on my side and I want to honor Him in all aspects of my life.

The forces of darkness want to keep us from doing anything that will enhance our relationship with Jesus. As we allow the Holy Spirit to rest, rule and abide in us, our discipline will grow and we will continue to see God work in us and through us in greater ways. We will experience new things! That is my prayer and hope for you.