Ending Compulsion by Rebuilding Discipline

February 15, 2008 |

Rebuilding discipline is not easy. Like going on a long journey that you are not enthused about. The first step is the hardest.

Welcome to the war zone. Decked out with your new florescent joggers, off you go to Mr. Muscle’s Gym. Entering the world of fitness machines, you become increasingly conscious of the bulging belly stretching the elastic of your track pants. You discreetly suck it in as you walk over to the exercise bike, the only machine you recognize. It’s been years. The seat seems so much smaller than you remember.
After a few moments of peddling, lungs gasp for air as the body screams, “What are you trying to do? Do you hate me?” Horror sets in as you realize how far your health has deteriorated. After only 20 minutes, you drive home to collapse on the sofa. Images from the gym haunt your mind: sculpted muscles and tanned, sleek bodies. “I could never look like that. This is me, so I might as well accept it.” Desperation calls for action. Staring wide-eyed at your vacuum cleaner, you consider Liposuction. But that’s just too radical.

Is Discipline Painful?

Most people connect discipline with pain. They consider the marathon runner training in the rain, and think that is insanity. It’s no fun forcing yourself to do something you don’t want to do. But if you are achieving an important goal, discipline becomes much easier. An athlete training for the Olympics does not have a grinding battle with willpower every day. Although there are battles, it becomes easier as the routine becomes a lifestyle.
Discipline is a mode of thought. It’s easy when you are doing it and difficult when you are not. But with patience, the right attitude, and keeping your mind on the goal, discipline becomes second nature. You don’t have to force yourself. It just comes naturally. That is the way it should be. God wants us to become disciplined so He can bless us.

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7

It is easy to weaken discipline. Just spend years lying on the couch, watching TV, and eating junk food with no direction, goals or dreams. A lazy lifestyle weakens the discipline muscle to the point that getting out of bed takes effort. Even doing the dishes becomes work and searching for the TV converter is stressful.

Comfort is important. It gives happiness, right? I wish couch potatoes were the happiest people in the world. But, they are not. The couch is a prison cell, the TV a window to the outside world, a secure place that keeps out pain and rejection. The place is agony, for its walls scream you are powerless, hopeless, valueless with nothing to give. And so, couch potatoes live a miserable existence.
To gain discipline, you have to face pain. The more you face it, the more you gain confidence and determination. It is an exhilarating high to run five miles after you’re conditioned to running. It hurts to start, but as your training progresses, there is a feeling of freedom and joy.

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