Discipline.

Just because you are an athlete doesn’t mean you’re disciplined.

Of course there are varying factors as to how disciplined an athlete truly is. A few things I would argue as facts: The more disciplined you are, the more likely you are to become a successful athlete to begin with and because of the intense hours and training it is likely that the normal athlete is more disciplined than the normal non-athlete. Yet this is not always the case.

Our fall softball season has completely ended. No more workouts, as finals are this week and we prepare for Christmas break, until our pre-season camp in January.

Through this off time, I now wake up every morning and have a choice: Am I going to work out today? Am I going to play softball today? Because, unlike a normal week, none of these actions are required.

Self-discipline will keep me working out through the next four weeks.

If you are a dedicated reader, you should know by now how much I love to compare physical training to spiritual training!

2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

This passage says that all Scripture comes directly from God. All scripture is useful for teaching and fine-tuning thoughts. Lastly, all scripture should be used to train us in doing what is pleasing to God! Why do we train?  So that we, as sons and daughters of the Living God, are prepared to do the will of our Father!

Bringing it full circle, how then do we train in righteousness? Read all scripture!

I remember several years ago when I was first becoming a Christian, I was reading through the Gospels and felt “safe” there. I knew there were things in the later part of the New Testament, like Paul’s letters, that would have something that I didn’t want to read. I avoided those parts because I was living life with a sin that I didn’t want to “give up.” If this is the case for you, don’t avoid those passages of All Scripture any longer! Face them and pray to the Holy Spirit for true understanding.

If we always read what is safe to us, that’s like going out every day and just running one mile. Sure, we are leaving our house. We are training. But are we progressing?

Several years into my Christian walk, I still have questions! With my Bible Study, I have been diving into the book of Daniel with intense history and prophecy. Next semester I hope to spend some time in Revelations. The history and the prophecy is so much information, but God has granted me a hunger and a thirst for this knowledge and He is rocking my world!

It is exciting to know that my questions will never be answered. That I get to, by God’s grace, keep chasing the Lord and learning more about Him and His Word for the rest of my life.

So if it’s not a church or bible study day and you are in that “off-season,” you wake up every morning and have to the choice: Am I going to train spiritually today? Am I going to read my Bible and pray? Because, we remember, none of these actions are required…

How self-disciplined are you?