Greater RewardSample

We’re All Disciplined 

Maybe you’ve gotten this far, and you just don’t feel like you have what it takes to be a disciplined person. Maybe you think that you have the wrong personality type for it, or you’re just not cut out to be disciplined. But we’re all disciplined. Some of us just are disciplined in the wrong things. 

Think about what you spend your time doing. Even if you spend a lot of time eating ice cream while playing video games or bingeing a new show, that’s still being disciplined to do something consistently—it just might not be the thing you really want to spend your life doing. 

Instead, what if you start small? What if you decide to watch only one episode of your show at a time? What if you decide to eat ice cream only once a week? Then once a month? 

Often, it takes pain in our circumstances to convince us that the pain of discipline is actually better. For example, you may damage or lose a relationship by spending too much time watching TV. And that might motivate you to change your habits. But what if you decided to be disciplined before experiencing consequences? 

Discipline is all about choosing what we want most over what we want in the moment. So, take time to really think about what you want most. 

When we don’t know what we want in the future, we give in to whatever sounds good today. Just look at what happened to Esau in the Old Testament. 

Esau and Jacob were brothers, and in their day, the firstborn had a birthright—meaning that their dad would give them a special blessing and a double portion of the inheritance. Esau was the firstborn, meaning that he was entitled to that birthright. 

But one day—a day when Esau had been hunting and came home exhausted—Jacob convinced his brother to trade his birthright for some stew. Yes. You read that right.

But before you jump on Esau and think about how crazy it is—think about some of your decisions. Instant gratification appeals to all of us. Have you ever traded something you really wanted for something that felt good in the moment? 

Maybe you had been saving for a vacation, but then you spontaneously spent all the money on an online flash sale. Maybe you ruined a relationship by lying to someone you love, just to prevent conflict in the moment. Whatever your example is, we’ve all given in to moments of instant gratification.

But we don’t have to keep doing it. We can learn from Esau—and from our own past experience—and change our habits. But the best time to change bad habits is today. Why? Esau made his decision when he was exhausted and distracted. So, if you want to make good decisions and be disciplined, you’ll have to decide early and often that what you’re giving up is for a greater purpose. 

Today, choose the pain of discipline over the pain of regret. And choose the joy of a greater reward over a temporary highlight. 

Challenge: As you read Esau’s story, think about ways in which you might be trading something you want most for something that feels good in the moment. How can you stop giving into instant gratification and start developing discipline instead?