Good morning. 🙂

Nobody likes the word “discipline”. When I think of this word I think of spankings, getting slapped, not being able to go out with my friends. Getting yelled at, reprimanded. I think of rules and boundaries and anger and whips and shackles and jail cells. I think of the Count of Monte Cristo and being a prisoner and hating life.

Hey, I’m just being honest.

But it turns out discipline is a good thing.

There are multiple definitions to the word “discipline” and to be fair, the first one is “punishment” which validates the journey my mind just went on. 😀

The second definition is “a field of study”.

The third definition is “training that corrects, molds or perfects”.

The fourth is “control gained by obedience or training”.

The fifth is “a system of rules governing conduct”.

Thanks Merriam Webster.

We are going to camp out on definitions 3 & 4.

Discipline is training that corrects molds or perfects; discipline is control gained by obedience or training.

In other words, to be disciplined is to gain control through training that molds or perfects.

We will now apply this to godliness and spirituality.

In order to become more godly, we must be disciplined in the way we go about it. The first way is to read the bible diligently. Without reading the bible diligently, aka every day, we are preventing ourselves from receiving God’s grace through this channel. Aside from reading the bible, we must hear the Word also.

“Romans 10:17 says “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”

In other words, our faith grows as we hear the word of God. The hearing of the Word and the reading of the Word are essential to our spiritual growth. We must stay disciplined in this area so we are sure to be fed and satisfied.

John 6:35 says “Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

When it comes to regular food and drink, I don’t need any help in staying disciplined to make sure I eat and drink. This type of food only satisfies temporarily though. To be fed spiritually, we must partake in the hearing and reading of the Word of God as often as we eat and drink tangible, physical, temporal food. We must have it fresh every day.

Just like the manna fell from heaven in Exodus and the Israelites were told to collect only however much they needed for that day else it would spoil, that is how we are to treat the Word of God. We can’t read a big sum of scripture today and expect it to satisfy us all week. No, we need the Word fresh everyday.

More later.

xxx

<3
V