Perseverance Brings Harvest

Have you ever started something new and gave up after a few tries? Maybe you tried to create a new morning routine or Bible reading habit, only to give up after a few weeks? It can be hard to build enough discipline to start something new.

It is also hard to receive discipline from someone. Maybe you remember being disciplined as a kid by your parent. Or maybe you’ve been disciplined at work for a mistake you made.

In either case, discipline is hard and takes a lot of work.

Scripture says that for those who endure discipline and persevere, there is a harvest of righteousness and peace waiting for them. However, it doesn’t happen easily and often makes us uncomfortable. We have to be trained through discipline to create godly habits that will then produce righteousness and peace in our lives.

Take some time today to consider: Where can you allow the Holy Spirit to build discipline in your life? What daily habits should you begin working on today?

It’s always worth building discipline because the result is peace and righteous living.

I have generally always considered myself fairly well self-disciplined. The habits I have formed stem from a mother who was a strict disciplinarian and never wanted me to embarrass her. Now that I am older, the discipline I face comes from within me, and the choices I make are guided by my conscience and the Holy Spirit. I don’t like the strict diet that I have to follow because of my health problems, but I watch others enjoy potatoes and tomatoes and know that they could harm me irrevocably. I would like to partake of toasty breads but I know that they are off limits for me. On the other hand, God has gifted me with extra years of life, so I am thankful and continue to discipline myself. An area in which I faced difficulty in self-discipline is expressing my thoughts about what is happening in the world, the foolishness of our leaders and the godlessness of many in our nation. But I know that my spouting off my opinion will not lead others to agree with me, but it more likely to push them away so that they avoid me or don’t listen to me at all. Thus, I am learning the discipline of not saying everything that I am thinking. Just think if we were in error and God started spouting off His opinions about our actions. Would we be more or less likely to comply with His advice? As an adult, discipline is built from within but we have to be willing to listen to the Holy Spirit and follow His advice. He wants what is best for us and for others.