The Role of Discipline ...

Wednesday, December 14, 2011. Several times over the past weeks I had experiences where I was confronted with the question of personal discipline. When I tried to help friends or some people in the wider network, I had to realize that personal discipline is a very important part of life!

Discipline is needed …

There are, of course, the extreme cases. Think about some addiction. People are misusing alcohol, various types of drugs from the hard drugs which are classic to some medication which you can get in every pharmacy around the corner. How can you get over such problems? Addiction can be a real illness, and usually without professional help you cannot make it. But also, there is the point that discipline is needed when you want to be successful. Without the ability to say no, to control your day and your life, you will never find a way back into a normal life!

But it is not always the hard cases, with which we are faced. It is the daily routine which needs discipline. If kids want to learn and make progress in school, they need to learn to sit down and work on a particular subject. They need exercise. They need hard work. They need a minimum of discipline. If you really want to do things well, you need personal discipline.

The same is true for progress in the professional life. And it is true for our whole political area. Without discipline, we will not keep a healthy and prosperous state. Without discipline in what we spend, there is no prosperity. I would say that discipline is a key skill, which is at the heart of any healthy life style!

New Testament Contributions …

In the New Testament discipline is of high importance. Of course, the New Testament is a very rich book, touching all levels of human life. So grace, truth, love, help, solidarity, reliability etc etc are central terms. And discipline is in many of these. Without discipline, you cannot be reliable. It means that you do what you promised to do, and to carry things out in time you need discipline.

But there is more. As humans we are drawn into different directions. We are attracted by beauty on all levels. We are attracted by the convenient and comfortable things. To do what is needed, what is right, what is helpful we need discipline. Do not steal! If we take what we would like to have, we cannot obey this basic rule. We need discipline to stay honest, even if we are under pressure or tempted.

It is very interesting that discipline seems to be taken serious by Jesus in the New Testament. He asks people to act in a way which is based on personal discipline. He asks them to make decisions and then stick to them - that needs discipline. Have a look into the New Testament and read it with open ears … (Roland Potthast) ... more texts