Shiny, Happy, Disciplined People

 Today is brought to you by the letter "D"! This was not a cut and dried choice, however. There were many contenders before I settled on this word. I had to start thinking about my words in the form of a question. Are _____________people (fill in the blank, happier people? Then it started making sense. To satisfy your curiosity, the other "D" words that made the list were "determined", "devoted", "deep" and I even toyed with "dimensional". After listening to Christmas music and getting my boogie on the other day, "dancing" tried to jump in there, but that's too obvious. Of course, dancing people are happier people! But here I am with "disciplined" and I'll see if I can land this plane. 

Do I believe disciplined people lead happier lives? I think they do in many ways, especially over their undisciplined counterparts. When we have self-control, we make better choices overall. When we make better choices, we are more satisfied with our outcome. When we are focused and honed in on our behaviors that lead to success, we are less apt to be led astray by nonsense, if that makes sense. Disciplined people set priorities and tend to stick with them more consistently (notice that word, "consistent) than those who willy-nilly their way through life.  To clarify, I can be both disciplined and willy-nilly, depending on my current health status, so I am not judging anyone here. We all have our reasons, and I'll touch on that later.  

When we were children, we may have associated discipline with some kind of punishment. We were told we had to clean our rooms before we could do something fun. We were given lists of chores, told to do homework before the TV could come on, or maybe discipline meant taking something valuable away for awhile.  In our home, the girls hated the sound of their dad coming up the stairs on a Saturday morning, because that meant there was work to be done! In sports, discipline meant showing up for practice and putting in all of our effort, playing hard at the games, and even working hard off the courts and fields. If you wanted to succeed scholastically, athletically, musically, or in any way at our home, you were told the same thing. You need to put in the time, the work, and the self-discipline. If you want it, you will work for it. Keeping in mind, our definition of "success" is putting in YOUR very best effort and not what others consider their best. We were not drill sergeants or Olympic coaches here, but simply parents who taught their kids that they were capable of giving their all to whatever they set their minds to. Discipline creates confidence and confidence creates security, even when the results are not what you desire. (Even if we are chronically ill, there is still something we can discipline ourselves to do, and I do)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 

Discipline, when done correctly, also creates confidence in boundaries.  Children who are disciplined with healthy boundaries are children who grow to depend on those boundaries as security. As adults, those same disciplinary boundaries help us to succeed on our own when there is no one telling us to study, go to bed on time, eat right, work hard, and in some cases, don't do this or that. At 53, I can still hear my parents' voices about certain things, and I am grateful that they kept me from the things that they knew were not safe or good for me. Beneath the sting of healthy discipline is love and protection. While I pushed boundaries and crossed lines as a teenager, I returned to my disciplines as an adult, praise God. Because as I discipline myself, I realize I do it out of self-respect and love. I dreaded the times I had to exert discipline over my teenage daughters, and I'm sure I looked and sounded like Shrek, the ogre while doing so. However, my protection and love for them was stronger than letting them get away with whatever was going to harm them at that time and in the future. Discipline of others and of self is never easy, but it is always rewarding. 

 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. Hebrews 12:6 

God will discipline us because we are His children and He loves us. He wants to protect us from the things that will lead us astray or will harm others or ourselves. I can't tell you the times God got in between me and something I thought I wanted! I didn't feel His love at the time. Much like a child facing a Shrek-like parent, I just felt punished. But looking back, I saw the love of His protection and then the action of His reward. Maybe one day I will share that story. But for today, please know that being self-controlled and disciplined is not a life sentence of boring, predictable routine, but a contented life of success. And for any parents out there, your kids won't hate you for loving them with healthy discipline. Hang in there. 

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