Discipline: Oh the blessing of it!

My niece Jessica is my eldest brothers’ child. Jess and I have spent a nominal amount of family time in each other’s company, yet we share so many similarities one would think we came from the same womb.
A while back I invited Jess to guest blog on one particular topic she and I regularly battle, weight: more specifically maintaining a healthy weight. Jess wrote an excellent post, “I Will Not Be Enslaved”
This past month I was encouraged by my friend Robyn’s post on the same struggle.
God has used these gals and a bunch of other things to begin training me up in the way He would have me go. To my great surprise I find myself in some of the sweetest dialogue with my Heavenly Father and NOT about weight, but discipline.


dis·ci·pline (ds-pln) n.

1. Training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior, especially training that produces moral or mental improvement.
2. Controlled behavior resulting from disciplinary training; self-control.
3. a. Control obtained by enforcing compliance or order.
b. A systematic method to obtain obedience: a military discipline.
c. A state of order based on submission to rules and authority: a teacher who demanded discipline in the classroom.
4. Punishment intended to correct or train.
5. A set of rules or methods, as those regulating the practice of a church or monastic order.
6. A branch of knowledge or teaching.tr.v. dis·ci·plined, dis·ci·plin·ing, dis·ci·plines

1. To train by instruction and practice, especially to teach self-control to.
2. To teach to obey rules or accept authority. See Synonyms at teach.
3. To punish in order to gain control or enforce obedience.
4. To impose order on: needed to discipline their study habits.


Discipline, has been a word I have vastly misunderstood. To my way of thinking, discipline was chiefly connected to punishment and NOT training….especially gentle training.

Every New Year instead of listing resolutions, God lays a theme on my heart, something He plans to train me up in throughout that year. Last year it was obedience and let me tell you, what a glorious year in obedience we had! Never have I known such joy, peace and blessed humility as God led me along, taking much care and His precious time while blessing me in so many ways. Obedience is a very good thing and always brings blessings!

“If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:” Deuteronomy 28:1-2

In 2010, God made it clear; this would be the year of discipline. I admit to a bit of trepidation, but reflecting back on "The Year of Obedience", I felt safe in my Father's care, looking forward with great anticipation for the sweet communion He and I would share during this year of discipline.

Oh the blessing of it!

"Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. For He wounds, but He also binds up; He injures, but His hands also heal." Job 5:17-18

I will Not be Enslaved

Recently God has been dealing with me on some very weighty issues. Specifically, what my weight reflects when it comes to where and what I turn to other than my heavenly Father in satisfying my needs.



I shared these revelations God was revealing to me with my niece Jessica a few weeks back.



Shortly afterword, Jess posted the following note on her Facebook page. With her permission I share it with you.



With New Years just a few days away, so many good intentioned resolutions we tend to make - then break, it seemed only fitting.



1 Corinthians 6:12-20 "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be enslaved by anything. "Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food"—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, "The two will become one flesh." But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.



I’ve decided the best way to get my point across with loosely applying this passage to overeating is just to replace some words.



Please don’t get the fire burning. I’m not trying to be heretical…I realize there are some flaws to my logic, but I also know that I’m not trying to start a new idea or anything and this isn’t a “word from the Lord.” I’m just taking a passage that deals with a sin and applying it to another sin.



Here’s what I think Paul would have written if he were a woman dealing with food issues, LOL.



“All food is legal for me to eat, but not all of it is healthful. All food is OK for me to eat, but I will not be enslaved by it. Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food and they are both temporary and will not be important in the end. The body is not made for gluttony, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of the Pillsbury Dough Boy? Never! (My substitutions for verse 16 just got silly…I digress!) But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee gluttony (the running wouldn’t hurt, either.) Every other sin a person commits outside the body, but gluttonous person sins against his own body (I know this may not be correct and go against what Paul originally said, but it makes sense, right? Without making me a heretic? Am I way out of context here?) Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God with your body.”



I know some might think it extreme to compare gluttony to sexual sins. I think that may be because most of the time gluttony is socially acceptable. Only in America, folks. Home of the super sized, drive thru, delivered fast food, all you can eat buffets and restaurant meals that really should take a day to eat.



With some people, we have been taught to overeat. I don’t use that as an excuse, but we are not satisfied to just be full most of the time. It used to be that you only stuffed yourself that full on Thanksgiving, but now it seems like a more regular occurrence. If our stomach was meant to only hold so much food, why do we overfill it on so many occasions? We even make jokes about wearing our “eating pants.”I guess to some people this might seem extreme.



It’s just food, right?



If you have food issues, like I do, then getting to the heart of why we overeat is so important.



For me, I’ve narrowed it down to 2 words: Idle and Idol.



I eat when I’m bored and I try to replace God with food. Thinking that it will make me feel better. Choosing to comfort myself with food instead of God's Word.I’m hoping to do some more Bible “study” about this topic.



If you have any insight on this, please share! I think we do this by ourselves so often and it really is a big issue for some people.



Thanks, Tammy, for spurring my brain on this topic!