28 Apr From Discipline to Delight

Many years ago, when Carrie and I bought our first home, we, courtesy of the home builder, also bought our first little flower bed/place where bushes grow in the front yard.

It was all great and beautiful until, say, about two months in, when the weeds began to grow. And grow and grow. And shortly after that, as is common with new homes, the new grass began to die.

And it set off a multiyear process that culminated in lots of money being spent, a new sprinkler system, a near death experience, a humiliated homeowner, but in the end, beautiful grass and a nice flower bed.

Go, us.

What made the difference between a flower bed full of weeds and one brought to life?

Well, a number of things, to be honest, but key among them was this:

The key of discipline.

Here’s what I learned: It takes discipline to keep out what I didn’t want to grow (weeds), and it took discipline to keep in what I did want to grow (green grass and flowers).

Without discipline, what I wanted to grow never grew (green grass and flowers), and what I didn’t want to grow automatically grew.

And I think this is the same not only of the human heart, but really, any area of life.

It takes discipline—the disciplines of service, Bible reading, prayer, community, fasting—to keep growing the things I want to grow: relationships, a healthy church, intimacy with God, Gospel proclamation in difficult places in the city—

And it takes discipline to keep out the things I don’t want to grow—things like bitterness, lust, selfishness, injustice and unrighteous anger, to name a few.

Discipline, alas, has fallen on tough times in the modern era, with connotations of brow beating, self-flagellation, and in general, an unpopular association as something that doesn’t “feel good” or “feel right”.

But I was struck by a thought the other morning, as I was praying, specifically, for my wife and children:

The discipline of remaining faithful to and in good relationship with my wife over 17 years has produced something far greater than anything I could have gotten by just “letting it all hang out” or just “following my heart”, or “being true to my feelings” by giving up in a tough moment, a tough year, or even tough years.

Here’s what I discovered: not only can feelings come and feelings go, but feelings can grow.

And my feelings toward something grow in the direct proportion to what I invest in that thing.

Over time, my discipline in any area (not easy) can become a delight (far easier and even rewarding).

How to get this?

One of the simplest ways I have discovered this is by meditating on Hebrews 12:2 “For the joy (delight) set before him, He [Jesus] endured the cross…”

What was the joy Jesus was going after? I believe not only His Father’s love, but that we were the joy. His discipline to endure through the ups and downs of human life and relationships, including the moment of the cross, has brought Him immeasurable delight.

Don’t quit on stuff that’s hard.

It takes work to keep out what we don’t want, and work to keep in what we do.

But by the grace of God, in the end, what began as discipline can turn to delight.

May it be so for you and for us.

Morgan