Let’s talk about discipline and its importance to you and me. You know, you can read about discipline in books. You can ask someone to teach it to you. You can even request that someone hold you accountable for it. Sometimes, it’s required because of whom you are subordinate to. However, when the going gets tough, the only way anyone can depend on personal discipline is when they have practiced it until it becomes a habit upon which they can depend. The principle is that a disciplined response to trouble is wholly the result of the experience in which it has been consistently practiced. This response comes from having given discipline a place in your heart where it its valued and guarded. The New Living Translation of Romans 5:3, speaking of disciplined endurance, says this: “Moreover[let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.”
Consider the soldier. His survival in a life-threatening battle could easily depend on the personal discipline that resides within him. What calms him and keeps him thinking clearly are the patterns of discipline he has practiced until they became second nature. These patterns will keep him from succumbing to fear or even panic in the face of danger. Discipline also works this same way for every soldier of Christ who wants to safely endure his or her battles with good success. Remember, the battle is the Lord’s. but your part is to stay disciplined in your faith. Just stand fast on the biblical principles that have built self-control and restraint into your heart.