Monday, 15 October 2007 01:00 | and posted in Spiritual Disciplines
Discipline. Now there's a word to make you shudder. Anyone else got an image of a starchy collared Victorian school teacher looking sternly over steel rimmed spectacles? I guess that for most of us "discipline," is not a word that makes us think, "Yay, lets do that!" So what do the words spiritual and discipline together mean for a Christian? Does it mean God is thwacking a big cane against a table every time we get something wrong? Well, guess what - I don't think that's quite how it is.
Discipline can be a good thing. For example if you're sporty getting yourself out of bed to get to an early morning training session is a discipline. Choosing not to eat junk and choosing to have an early night so you can be on top form for the match is a discipline. Now I'm not naturally a disciplined person, and the idea of early mornings, no chips and not taking EVERY opportunity to see my pals doesn't sound appealing - but a mate of mine who is into his football reckons that it's worth it to be part of the winning team. The feeling of scoring a goal is apparently worth the sacrifice.
But what's this got to do with spiritual disciplines? If you think about it, if discipline (getting on and doing stuff even when you might not feel like it) is what makes athletes winners and musicians great, spiritual disciplines are what make Christians strong. It's the things you do to make your faith strong, like prayer or Bible reading, or less obvious ones like celebration, giving generously and serving others. Sometimes these are easy and a joy to do, at other times it feels like there are more fun things I could be doing, or I'm just not in the mood. That's when the discipline bit kicks in. Even though I don't feel like it, I make myself put in the time and effort. Why? Because I know from experience that spiritual disciplines strengthen my relationship with God, transform my life for the better and they help me run to God quicker through the storms of life.
You know what - it's not always easy. I don't get it right all the time, and I'm sure you won't either. Don't beat yourself up about it, just dust down the Bible, say hello to God, and get going again. In the words of St Paul, "Let's run with perseverance the race set out before us," (Hebrews 12:1). In the words of St Nike, "Just do it!"