Discipline

(Do we want, or do we just want to want?)
At times, all of us look around and see the need in our lives or in our children's lives and recognize that things could be different. Maybe we struggle with our eating habits or our weight. We see others, healthier others, or perhaps thinner others, and we know that it’s not that it is easier for them, but that they have ordered their lives with a discipline that makes a difference. Perhaps they run daily, or monitor their intake of fats daily. Whatever it is, the only difference between their physical condition and our own is discipline.
If we have children, our desire is that they grow up to be healthy, productive adults, but do we give them the tools of discipline to do so? Furthermore, do we set examples of discipline for them to follow? If we're managers, do we set the standards of discipline that our employees need to see? Do we give them an example to follow? Do we set examples for our co-workers? Do we lead the way in demonstrating what a faithful servant/employee looks like? Or do we fall, letting the worlds standards of discipline and productivity apply to our lives?
Last summer we had two teenage boys with us for a month. Teens will be teens, but I found myself getting more frustrated and critical of their housekeeping habits with every passing day. Finally, I gave up nagging and just let the clothes pile up on the floors, mildewing in the humidity, as "I" knew they would. But my mind would not let go. As is usually the case, the root of the problem was much deeper than just letting clothes lie around.
Unfortunately it often takes a while to get to the bottom of what is bothering us. It wasn't until the situation disappeared, until the teenagers had gone back home, that I was able to step back and look at what was bothering me.
It has been said that what bothers us most often in others is a problem in our own life. "As iron sharpens iron", "The moat in our own eye", etc. When I stepped back to observe, I saw that I had begun to take the easy road myself. Not just around the house, where I had stopped fixing meals on a daily basis and where I didn’t clean with my usual regularity, but also at work, where I fluttered from one project to another, blaming my inability to accomplish anything on my boss and his lack of discipline. And, most importantly, it was in my spiritual walk that the lack of discipline was most noticeable. In the turmoil, excitement and challenges of moving halfway across the country I had neglected my daily discipline of starting the day with the Lord. My prayer and study life had crumbled and along with it, my right relationship with my Master and Creator, and as a result, my relationship with the rest of His creation.
If our spiritual life, or any aspect of our lives for that matter, is in a shambles, perhaps we should first look at the discipline in our lives. Is it there? We want the best from the Lord, but do we give him our best. The Psalmist says, "Early in the morning will I rise up to meet you." Are we rising up to meet the Lord or just expecting him to come meet us wherever we are? Do we think we can neglect our prayer and Bible study and yet the Lord will meet us, commune with us when we walk by the seashore, or climb to the mountaintops? It isn't so. It isn't so.