“No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:27).
With the possible exception of waking up and finding that you are married, nothing can be more of a shocker than waking up to the discovery you are in the military, and you signed up for a four-year hitch. Mommy is no longer going to be there to make your bed and pamper you, and do your washing and ironing, and call the school with a fabricated excuse when you are too lazy to do your report.
A drill-sergeant who is tougher than nails, meaner than a junkyard dog, and as overbearing as anything you have ever encountered convinces you he can break your neck and would consider it a pleasure to do so, if you don’t jump and bark, “Sir!” at the appropriate times.
And why is the sudden infusion of discipline in a young man’s life more shocking than a bad drug trip or a plunge into ice water in the dead of winter? Because, simply put, he’s grown up in a pampered, indulged world where someone—mommy probably—did it for him. He neither knew discipline nor understood what obedience is about.
Though you probably wouldn’t say so out loud, I may have just described you—at least partially. How do you develop discipline in your studies, in your business, in your physical appetite, and in your relationship to God? Frankly, you will never succeed in any endeavor—whether it is your marriage or your business—unless you learn discipline.
You thought your mother was the meanest woman in the world when she insisted you do things for yourself, things that other kids never had to do. You hated it, but you had no choice. She was teaching you discipline, and when you grow up with it, you can eventually discipline yourself. This, of course, isn’t the way it was for most of us who grew up with few limits, no curfews, and rarely were denied anything.
We are the ones who gain self-discipline at pretty great cost.
First, there is the motive for discipline. Why bother? Writing to the Corinthians, Paul put the motive for discipline in the context of the athlete who wanted to win a prize. Now, the Corinthians understood that. “No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others,” he said, “I myself will not be disqualified for the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:27). No cheating. No shortcuts. Now, the next step certifies the obvious, but it’s important. Not knowing or understanding this, a lot of people try something, find it difficult, and quit. Here it is. The key to successful discipline is a series of incremental steps toward the top. You don’t go to a gym, put on the 100-kilo weights, and start pumping iron. A young man told how his grandfather, a blacksmith, could lift bags of potatoes weighing 100 pounds, a bag in each hand as he held them at arm’s length. “Grandad was not always like that,” he quickly added. “He worked up to it. He started with 5-pound sacks, then 10-pound sacks. Eventually, 25-pound sacks, then 50-pound sacks. Eventually, he could lift a 100-pound sack in each hand,” he emphasized. “Then,” said the lad, “he started putting potatoes in the sacks.”
Try discipline in the small areas of your life: returning phone calls, being punctual at a meeting, doing what you tell your kids you will do.
He who is faithful in the small task eventually will have the strength and discipline to win at the greater one. The path to the top is a succession of small, inconsequential steps that eventually rise above the level of mediocrity where others turn back. Remember, said Paul, “I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”
Resource reading: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.
