Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Hebrews 12:11

I took four years of German, but I didn’t stick with it. I can count to five, and I know that a “fenster” is either a window or a sweater. That’s about all I can remember. (I just looked it up–it’s a window!)

I thought that if I learned to meditate like a Buddhist monk, I could calm my soul and learn the secrets of the universe. I fell asleep, several times. I decided to just nap more.

Diets, exercise, even daily devotional time–they’re all habits I’ve tried to adopt, and then drifted away from. It’s not that I’m a quitter, per se, but when it comes to self-improvement, I seem to be all over the place. Do I lack “stick-to-it-ive-ness”? Do I treat “discipline” as a dirty word?

I hope not, because the first 11 verses of Hebrews 12 mentions the word “discipline” 7 times! Along with faith comes discipline. Just as a parent helps a child grow by instilling discipline, so does God with us. It’s not always easy –it can be downright painful! But the end result is righteousness. Being right with God.

I used to be ashamed of my shortcomings in the discipline department, until I came to understand three things:

• Discipline does not mean one size fits all.
• Discipline does not mean following a rigid or fixed schedule.
• Discipline does not mean denying your personality.

At its root discipline is much simpler than that. It is simply learning and practicing, learning and practicing. Lather, rinse, repeat. It can happen in many different ways.

If that’s true, then I practice discipline every day. Sometimes it’s through prayer, sometimes through service, sometimes through writing this devotion. I mix it up–I try new things. Some of them stick and others don’t. But my day is not complete if I haven’t tried to grow as a person. That’s a life goal, and something I DO stick to.

Both “discipline” and “discipleship” come from the same Latin word, “disciplina”. It means instruction and training. When you practice discipleship, you’re a disciplined student of Christ.

But what about the “painful” part? The writer of Hebrews (we’re not sure who wrote it) is pretty adamant that true discipline is not meant to be easy–it can even be downright painful. I think that’s true. Every time I push myself to learn and practice outside my comfort zone, I go to sleep feeling like I’m right with God.

No matter how we “do” discipline, we can’t progress without it.

I may jump around a bit with my “holy habits”, but I’m not giving up. God keeps loving me, quirks and all, and I show my gratitude by responding to it every day.

Stick-to-it-ive-ness is how I say:

Thank you, God,

for sticking with me.

auf wiedersehen,

Mitch