Discipline

I ran across a quote a few weeks back.  A sports coach made this statement to his players, “there are 2 pains in life, the pain of discipline, or the pain of regret.”  That has stuck with me lately.  Too often our lives can be sprinkled with regret.  The hardest part of regret is the inability to rewind time and do something over again.  The remedy? Do it right the first time.

Discipline is hard.  Discipline requires work.  Discipline requires consistency.  A few weeks ago I started running.  Several people have suggested a training program called “C25K”.  The program boasts that you can go from being a couch potato to running a 5K in 8 weeks!  I am on week 4 of the program.  It is tough.  It requires discipline, work, and consistency.  The encouraging part is the progress I am making.  The first day I struggled to run for 60 seconds.  Now, a 3 minute run is easy for me.

In our walk with the Lord, discipline is required.  Consistent effort, hard work, and intentional obedience all are keys to a disciplined life walking with Jesus.  So we can choose…the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.