A Matter of Discipline

A sign of spiritual growth is a recognition that you need to grow spiritually. And I think the more you grow, the more you realize that you have a long way to go. The moment you feel as though you have somehow arrived—or have somehow reached a plateau where you don’t need to practice the Christian basics anymore—is the moment that you enter a spiritual danger zone.

Most of us know people who started out following the Lord but fell away. Why does that happen? Why do some go on to great things and serve the Lord while others crash and burn? I think the answer lies in the choices they make. You see, we make our choices. Then our choices make us. It comes down to discipline.

Discipline is not a popular word in our day and age. Everyone is always looking for the shortcut. We want to lose weight, but we don’t want to modify our eating, and we certainly don’t want to exercise. But in reality, we know that we will have to discipline ourselves to get in shape.

If you want to be successful at anything, it comes down to discipline. To be successful spiritually, it requires a combination of turning away from what would hurt you spiritually and embracing what would help you. It is cutting free from anything that would slow you down and taking hold of anything that would speed you up.

When a concert violinist was asked how she became so skilled, she replied, "It was planned neglect." She planned to neglect anything that was not related to her goal.

I think we could all use a little planned neglect. That means making time for the things of God but neglecting other things that we know can harm us spiritually.