Discipline Defined
The obsolete definition of discipline is instruction. Discipline instructed rather than punished. According to Merriam Webster's first meaning, it means to punish. This is what we often think of when we hear the word discipline. The third meaning, again according to Merriam Webster, discipline means a field of study. If you went to college for nursing, nursing is your discipline. The fourth Merriam Webster meaning relates to the second, obsolete meaning: training that molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character. This relates to instruction in that when we discipline a child, for example, we don't or shouldn't want to merely punish the bad behavior, but we should strive to correct it.
Let's say you have a child sit in time out when she misbehaves, but you give no instruction about the bad behavior or what good behavior you expect from the child, then what has the child really learned? She has learned that she may spend quite a bit of time in time out. But if the child hears what was wrong with the behavior, what you expect good behavior to be, and how to achieve the goal of good behavior, then while the child sits in time out she can think about what was said, and perhaps learn to avoid the behavior that sent her there in the first place.
Even adults need discipline. What do I mean? For myself I need the discipline of time management. Just as I needed the instruction I got yesterday from a friend on the discipline of watercolor painting, I need the discipline of time management, so I can accomplish more in my day in order that I will have time to do watercolor, and the other projects that I long to do. Even the discipline it takes to write daily, so that you, dear Reader, won't come to this blog and find that I have written nothing new in days. After a while, you won't come.
So how does an adult acquire this instruction? Mentors help. People with whom we can be accountable. Putting first things first helps. Why is that when I find I am pressed for time, got up late, whatever, I neglect Bible reading and prayer? I will tackle the house, yard, do a hundred other things that never end up getting finished, or if finished not finished well, but I don't have time to spend with my Lord and Savior? I find that when I put Christ first really all else falls into place. It's a trap I allow the devil to set for myself, and I fall every time. I even wrote about this in the past under "First things First". I fail. Do you fail? Are you disciplined?
We can go to Christ and He does forgive us; he disciplines us in the right way with instruction from His word. Keep pressing forward, Reader. Don't give up. Let's pray for one another!
Let's say you have a child sit in time out when she misbehaves, but you give no instruction about the bad behavior or what good behavior you expect from the child, then what has the child really learned? She has learned that she may spend quite a bit of time in time out. But if the child hears what was wrong with the behavior, what you expect good behavior to be, and how to achieve the goal of good behavior, then while the child sits in time out she can think about what was said, and perhaps learn to avoid the behavior that sent her there in the first place.
Even adults need discipline. What do I mean? For myself I need the discipline of time management. Just as I needed the instruction I got yesterday from a friend on the discipline of watercolor painting, I need the discipline of time management, so I can accomplish more in my day in order that I will have time to do watercolor, and the other projects that I long to do. Even the discipline it takes to write daily, so that you, dear Reader, won't come to this blog and find that I have written nothing new in days. After a while, you won't come.
So how does an adult acquire this instruction? Mentors help. People with whom we can be accountable. Putting first things first helps. Why is that when I find I am pressed for time, got up late, whatever, I neglect Bible reading and prayer? I will tackle the house, yard, do a hundred other things that never end up getting finished, or if finished not finished well, but I don't have time to spend with my Lord and Savior? I find that when I put Christ first really all else falls into place. It's a trap I allow the devil to set for myself, and I fall every time. I even wrote about this in the past under "First things First". I fail. Do you fail? Are you disciplined?
We can go to Christ and He does forgive us; he disciplines us in the right way with instruction from His word. Keep pressing forward, Reader. Don't give up. Let's pray for one another!
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