Deuteronomy 8:5  “Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good.” (NLT)

—

Discipline empowers us to do for ourselves what others did for us when we were incapable of taking care of ourselves. Discipline empowers us to do what prevents us from becoming unnecessary burdens on others. Discipline prepares us for what we know lies ahead and for what could lie ahead. 

Discipline is what we do now to prevent most of the problems that will come our way if we do not prepare. 

Discipline is what empowers us to work from a place of rest rather than resting from our work by establishing and keeping a bedtime that ensures we will get the rest we need.

Discipline is what gets us out of bed when it’s time to get up no matter how much we would prefer to sleep in.

Discipline provides preparation for success. 

Discipline provides perspective for failure. 

Discipline teaches us how to begin again more intelligently.

Discipline is a gift we give ourselves. It is a gift we give our children. It is a gift we can offer to those we influence where we live, work, and play. 

God’s discipline is corrective in nature. His first desire is not punishment but alignment and attunement. He wants you to know his way and his reason. He wants you to know his purpose and his passion. He wants you to experience his mercy and his grace. He wants you to experience his highest and best.

Disciplined athletes and teams outperform more talented players and teams who lack discipline. 

Disciplined workers achieve more than workers with greater capacity and less discipline. 

Disciplined parents help their children focus more on what they should do than what they should not. The more good food they eat, the less they crave junk. The more helpful media they consume, the less they desire inelegant substitutes. 

Discipline is an accelerator, a multiplier, the path toward exponential improvement and accomplishment. 

Also, the disciplined roofers arrived before the disciplined writer finished his daily dots and dashes. So now the writer has fed the dogs, let them outside, and moved the cars so that he and his wife can leave for work when they are ready for the day.

—

I will give myself the gift of discipline.

—

Our Father, discipline me as necessary. Teach me self-discipline. Empower me to get out of my own way. Amen.