Job 31:1-4  
“I made a covenant with my eyes 
not to look with lust at a young woman. 
For what has God above chosen for us? 
What is our inheritance from the Almighty on high? 
Isn’t it calamity for the wicked 
and misfortune for those who do evil? 
Doesn’t he see everything I do 
and every step I take?” (NLT)

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The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition defines self-discipline this way:

1. Training and control of oneself and one’s conduct, usually for personal improvement.
2. Correction or government of one’s self for the sake of improvement.

The same source defines self-control this way:

1. Control of one’s emotions, desires, or actions by one’s own will.
2. Control of one’s self; restraint exercised over one’s self; self-command.
3. The ability to control one’s desires and impulses; willpower.

It may help to think of self-discipline as the right lead measures, and self-control as applying the proper response when a person finds himself or herself in temptation that typically leads to sin. 

Job tells us clearly about his self-discipline habits and practices in this chapter. He also declares how he uses self-control to extract himself from unwholesome situations. His exemplary behavior served him well. 

In chapter 29, he tells about the respect he garnered for his life of integrity. He was highly esteemed by young and old alike. He lived what he said he believed. He was as beneficent as he was wealthy. He was as free with wisdom and counsel as he was generous. 

Job was a good man. He knew he had done the hard right thing again and again. It worked out well. Chapter 1 tells us about his overflowing abundance. God even pointed out to the heavenly council how good Job was. 

Good does not spare from grief. 

Good does not protect from harm.

Good does not guarantee that everything will always go well.

Bad things do happen to good people. 

You get the idea, don’t you, that Job, if he had to do it all over again, would still live a life of self-discipline, self-control, integrity, and reverence.

You get the idea that he could do no other, that he would never choose another path.

Good things come to those who live like Job. Life works out better when we honor God and serve others. Even so, none of us is going to live a completely problem-free life. We can choose, however, many of the kinds of problems we will endure. 

Choose the problems that come from doing the hard right thing.

Choose the problems that come from self-control. (See Joseph’s story in Genesis 39.)

Choose the problems of living with integrity. 

How we manage ourselves with problems like these helps define our influence for the Kingdom of God. 

I’m off for my morning walk with Ollie the Border Collie in a few minutes. I will also use dumbbells and stretchy bands to strengthen the muscles I need to live a more pain-free life. I’d rather drink more coffee and read more deeply. I will delay that so that I can Stay Fit and Healthy Until I Die, as Dave Barry so helpfully wrote years ago. 

How will you live with self-discipline and self-control today? What choices and behaviors will mark you as a person of integrity? 

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I will take the right lead measures and look for ways of escape when temptation comes my way.

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Our Father, empower me to live a life of integrity and character. Bless me with increasing strength in self-discipline and self-control. Empower me to take the right lead measures in all things. Empower me to flee from temptation. Make me a blessing to everyone I meet. Amen.