The Pain That Produces Peace
Just like your body, your soul must be trained—discipline today produces peace tomorrow.
Discipline hurts! Getting my body into shape is painful, it’s retaliating! My stomach hurts, my legs complain, and overall, I’m asking myself, “Why bother?” But I embrace the pain knowing that when my body is in shape, I feel and think better. It’s an investment in health, wholeness, and hopefully, longevity. The Bible speaks to this relationship between discipline, pain, and reward:
“No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way” (Hebrews 12:11 NLT).
More importantly, I need to get my ability to LIVE RIGHT into shape. If my free time is filled by social media, channel surfing, Netflix, the latest novels, 24 hour news feeds, and the like, I may not even know I’m out of shape when it comes to thinking biblically, to understanding the heart and mind of God. The thought of re-learning how to think is as exhausting as getting back into shape.
“Why bother?” You may even ask, “Who’s to say what’s right?” Truthfully, you know God is right, but it takes energy and discipline to spend time studying the Bible and thinking through how it applies to your daily living—so it’s easier to “go with the flow” than to be corrected and have to change your thinking, your living, your speech, your relationships, your habits.
We want something to be different in our lives, but without righteous discipline, we settle for anxiety, depression, unhealthy mindsets and unsatisfying routine. If this sounds familiar, consider the reward for getting off the sofa, turning off the TV, switching off your phone, opening your Bible and asking God to illuminate your understanding and change your thinking to reflect his: “Afterward, there will be a PEACEFUL harvest of right living.”
Today, take more time with God and invest in what truly brings health, wholeness and longevity.
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