Senior Living

Idon’t know any successful people who are undisciplined. Discipline for effective living is like oil for your car – you won’t run very long without it.

But you do have to put the oil in the right spout under the hood.

Some people may be very disciplined, but only in certain areas of their lives.

For instance, they may be disciplined in housekeeping but undisciplined in personal growth habits such as reading, studying or learning to play an instrument.

Successful living is a real balancing act, isn’t it?

God wants us to live disciplined lives in which we become good stewards of the gifts and talents he has given us.

Even though the definitions are quite different, there is a similarity between “discipline” and “disciple.”

When we hear the word disciple, we think of the 12 disciples of Jesus, and we understand them to be devoted followers of the Teacher.

But they were more than just students in the modern sense.

A disciple is more like an active apprentice who desires to be a living copy of the master. So, an “undisciplined disciple” is an oxymoron.

If you dare to be a disciple in the Biblical sense, God expects you to do your part in living a disciplined life.

This includes doing what the Bible says in 2nd Corinthians 10:5: “We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

A good mantra for anyone wanting to learn to stand alone and live a more disciplined life is simply, “Others may, you cannot.”

Strive for order, responsibility and discipline in all you do, but know that there is no amount of self-discipline to earn your way into heaven—that is only by God’s grace and by what Jesus did for us on the cross.

Next week: Have you been apple-picking?