The Discipline for Transformation

Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.

–1 Timothy 4:7

Let’s say I want to lose weight. I may have the desire to transform my body. I may have established a plan for running on the treadmill every day. But what’s going to get me out of bed and onto the treadmill on those mornings when I’d rather just pull the covers over my head?

The answer is discipline–that is, doing what you know you should do even when you don’t feel like doing it.

Ted Williams, one of the greatest baseball players in history, was often called a “natural hitter.” He didn’t like that description. When his remarkable eyesight was cited as one reason for his hitting ability, Williams would say, “It isn’t eyesight that makes a hitter. It’s practice. . . . From the time I was eleven years old, I’ve taken every possible opportunity to swing at a ball. I’ve swung and I’ve swung and I’ve swung.”

The same thing is true in our spiritual lives. You may desire spiritual transformation. You may even have a plan to start living the way Jesus lived and submitting to God’s rule in your life. But the only way you’re going to overcome sinful habits and patterns of behavior is by having the discipline to say yes to God even when you don’t feel like it. You have to swing and swing and swing. Theologian Elton Trueblood wrote, “Acceptance of discipline is the price of freedom. The pole vaulter is not free to go over the high bar except as he disciplines himself rigorously day after day. The freedom of the surgeon to use his drill to cut away the bony structure, close to a tiny nerve without severing it, arises from a similar discipline. It is doubtful if excellence in any field comes in any other way.”

Nothing of value will ever happen in your spiritual life without discipline. In 1 Timothy 4:7–8, Paul said, “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” The Greek word translated as “discipline” is gumnazo, from which we get our word gymnasium. The transformation of your heart requires some holy perspiration on your part. Is it difficult? Yes–but the reward is experiencing the benefits of the kingdom of God, both now and throughout eternity.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “Heart Surgery” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2008.

Ted Williams, as quoted in Ed Linn, Hitter: The Life and Turmoils of Ted Williams (Harvest, 1994), 190; Elton Trueblood, The Company of the Committed (Harper & Brothers, 1961), 41.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.