Discipline helps us Grow

Discipline is one of the necessary ingredients of spiritual growth. The Bible teaches that everyone needs discipline and correction to grow: “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent His rebuke” (Proverbs 3:11). The Bible has many meanings for the word discipline, such as chastening, correcting, instructing, reproving, and warning. Discipline in the broadest sense is our training to learn self-control in some area of life because we are not always in control of ourselves. We become disciplined by God and others. We go through external correction and consequences so that we will make discipline a part of our internal life and experience. The word disciple refers to one who is in the learning process. The word discipline describes both the process and the result. Restraining ourselves is so important that God lists it as a fruit of the Spirit. Self-control, another word for discipline, is honored by God as the anchor virtue (see Galatians 5:22-25). Discipline applies to every area of life in which we are not operating as we should, from attitudes to relational conflicts to faith struggles.

Self-control provides a structure for love. People, who have developed internal discipline, have learned to run their lives in such a manner that God’s love flows through them in very fruitful, fulfilling ways. They display qualities such as honesty, responsibility, faithfulness, and dependability. They are not slaves to their impulses. If love is the heart of the person, discipline is the skeleton, giving a person form and protection and yet discipline is painful. Growth groups, for example, provide support and understanding but if this is all the group provides, its members become well-loved infants, unable to solve the problems in which they struggle. Some people fear that discipline means punishment, condemnation, judgment, or even abuse because others have hurt them under the name of discipline, therefore they avoid discipline. One of the Greek words used in the Bible for discipline has a meaning that includes “nurturing”. In Hebrews the author says “the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son” (Hebrews 12:6). So discipline assists us in growing up when it is not driven by anger or punishment but by loving and caring.  

Discipline is related to suffering, though it is not the same as suffering. Suffering involves the discomfort we experience through some type of loss. Discipline, on the other hand, is more about the goal of growth and self-control. While we may suffer through some discipline to master a goal, discipline though a process or system, also becomes the fruit or result of submitting to that effort. Submitting to discipline then, is difficult because we must allow something to be done to us. We cannot provide discipline for ourselves otherwise we would just do it. It just isn’t inside of us. We have to submit to the process and then we grow. A certain loss of control and self-protection is necessary when we want to learn discipline. God never makes growth a process we can fully control. It takes faith (see Hebrews 11).

For discipline to be learned, requires effort. It is a process we receive but we cannot be passive. It takes initiative and to be active. Understand that discipline cannot come from willpower and commitment only, as those are on the inside. When we lack self-control, we must find discipline from other-control, that is, external structures (God and others) that help us internalize discipline, and then we grow.