Print this page

PITFALLS ON THE PATH OF LIFE:
II-6. LACK OF DISCIPLINE
(2 Peter 1:5-8)

Sometimes discipline requires tough love from parents. A father
and a school counselor were discussing children when the dad saw
his son climbing a tree. He asked the counselor if he should
make the child come down. "Well, it depends," the professional
replied. "If a fall would hurt him just a little bit, leave him
alone. He will learn a valuable lesson. But if a fall would
injure or kill him, then make him come down."

No one enjoys discipline. Solomon said, "Fools despise wisdom
and instruction" (Prov. 1:7b).

But, lack of discipline leads to inertia. A woman said, "When I
was twelve I saw a flower seed display in a feed store. As I
looked at the bright pictures, I got excited. I wanted to plant
a flower garden. So I bought five packages of seed.

"When I got home I raced out to the garden to begin. But I
found an untended clump of hard ground spilling over with weeds.
As I stood beside the miserable little plot, reality set in. It
would take a lot of work-pulling weeds, hoeing, tilling. I went
inside and laid the seeds on my window sill. In August they
were still there, reminders of a garden that never grew."

When we believe one thing and do something else, we're inviting
misery-the heart, the head and the body must work together.
Live your belief or let that belief go. If you're not actually
living a belief, it's not really your belief anyway. You're
just kidding yourself. If you aren't actually involved in
getting what you want, you don't really want it. Thoughts,
feelings and actions must match.

If these three are out of sync, nothing is accomplished.
Thoughts plan the process and analyze the consequences.
Feelings motivate interest and enthusiasm. Actions accomplish
the task. The writer of Ecclesiastes said, "Whatever your hand
finds to do, do it with all your might . . ." (Ecc. 9:10a).

In fact, success breeds success. Dr. Maslow found that when a
person has completed about 75% of the necessary steps toward his
goal, a new goal appears.
Paul said, "God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a
spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline" (II Tim. 1:7).

We lack discipline because of aimlessness, procrastination, and
not being persistent.

I. FIRST, WE ARE AIMLESS.

Few of us have direction, goals or focus. Instead, we are
indecisive and uncertain and inconsistent. The reason we don't
get what we want is because we don't know what we want. We're
like the man who said, "I don't know what I want, but I'm sure
it ain't what I've got."

Peter said, "Therefore, prepare your minds for action . . ." (I
Peter 1:13a).

A thought only lasts about 7 seconds. So without definite
plans, our dreams stay just that-dreams! Anyone going on a trip
takes a road map. Goals provide life maps. Most people spend
more time planning their vacations than they do planning their
lives. A Harvard University study found that only 3% of people
have written goals. 7% have a fuzzy idea, and 90% have no idea
at all. But follow-up surveys reveal that the 3% who had
written goals achieve more than the 97% all put together. Paul
said, "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God
has called me . . ." (Phil. 3:14a).

Some of us confuse wishes with goals. We say, "I wish I were a
better parent." "I wish I could go back to college." "I wish I
could lose some weight." But a wish by itself does no good. If
there are no plans, there is no commitment, and until we're
committed, there's no progress. A wise man said, "The moment
one definitely commits oneself to a positive goal, providence
moves in and supports the process."

Then, we have contradictory goals. We try to do too many
things. We confuse activity with accomplishment. A French
scientist put a caterpillar on the rim of a flower pot. Inside,
he placed pine needles, the insects favorite food. The
caterpillar began to crawl around the rim, smelling the food and
trying to reach it. It crawled around for 7 days and 7 nights
until it died of starvation. Just working harder is not enough.

Sometimes we have a clash of values. When we're playing with
our children, we need to be preparing a work project. Since
there's only so much time to spend, we have dissonance. If
earth were a large store, you'd have enough time to buy anything
in the store, but not everything in the store. If you fill your
cart too full, you can't pay out. Too many people put wants in
their cart-new careers, new relationships, new houses, new
recreations without considering the cost in time and effort it
will take to get and maintain that want. At some point in
everyone's life, the wants out number the available hours. So,
pick the thing you want most and if it's available you can have
it.

Jesus had a purpose from childhood. At the age of 12 he said,
"(Knew) ye not know that I must be about My Father's business?"
(Luke 2:49).

II. NEXT, WE PROCRASTINATE.

We put things off. But the writer of Hebrews says, there's only
one day. "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your
hearts . . ." (Heb. 3:7-8b).

A restaurant had this sign: "Free meal Tomorrow." Many would
return for the free meal, but the sign didn't say the offer was
good for that day-it was for tomorrow. This scheme got more
patrons in the diner, but since tomorrow never came, no free
meals were ever granted.

Tomorrow can be the busiest day of the week for well-intentioned
procrastinators.

Once a talented painter spoke constantly of creating his
masterpiece. But when questioned, he'd always answer, "Oh, I
didn't get around to it today. Maybe tomorrow." Or "I didn't
really feel like painting today. Maybe tomorrow." Or "The
weather wasn't right today, Maybe tomorrow." After he died,
people read these words on his tombstone, put there by someone
who knew him well:

"He was going to be all a person could be-tomorrow;
And no one will be stronger or better than he-tomorrow.
If a friend was in trouble and weary,
He knew and he wanted to help; and he needed it too.
He was planning to call and see what he could do-tomorrow.
But the fact is, he died and then faded from view,
And all that was left when his living was through,
Was a mountain of things he intended to do-tomorrow."

We emphasize good intentions rather than solid accomplishments.
If we "mean" to do it, that seems to substitute for actually
doing it!

We emphasize verbalization rather than performance. We say just
the right words and then if this promise is rewarded, there's no
need to follow through. A teacher described a gifted student
who had many creative possibilities, but he always stopped just
short of actualizing them. He would get an idea for a story.
He'd organize it in his mind. He'd talk about it with
enthusiasm; but he never wrote it down. It was as though being
able to view himself as one who is able to write brought its own
reward. Therefore, he wrote nothing.

We emphasize later rather than now. We say, "When I have time."
When I have the proper tools"; "When I feel better"; and on and
on.

If we can find any plausible reason to delay a task, we do. We
say, "I won't do it now. I'm too tired"; or "I'll make a fresh
start in the morning"; or "I'm not in the mood. Maybe this
afternoon will be better." But when afternoon comes, some other
activity interferes and we postpone it again, and again, and
again.

Always ask yourself: "Which will be more important tomorrow,
this activity or this distraction-not which is more appealing at
the moment."

Jesus never procrastinated. "As long as it is day, we must do
the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can
work" (John 9:4).

III. FINALLY, WE ARE NOT PERSISTENT.

Edward Butler said, "Every man is enthusiastic at times. One
man has enthusiasm for thirty minutes, another for thirty days.
But it is the man who has it for thirty years who succeeds!"

Jesus believed in persistence. He said, "No one who puts his
hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the
kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62).

We are not dependable. We promise and then forget. We start
and then quit. We commit and fail to follow through. We give
up too soon.

There are many reasons for this. Sometimes it's because we're
rebellious. We don't want to do what we're told to do.
Sometimes it's because we're impulsive. We jump in without
thinking; then by the time we realize the project is not
possible or productive, we've already wasted time and energy,
and even money.

Sometimes it's because we're fascinated by almost everything.
We try to do too much. Then, we either lose interest or become
overwhelmed and drop out. The First African Baptist Church in
Savannah, Georgia was built by slaves. Their owners allowed
them to work on it at night by the light of bonfires after their
other tasks were done. Their wives brought bricks in their
aprons to the men as they worked. Records of the construction
are almost nonexistent, except for this single phrase in an old
ledger: "The man who laid the first brick was the man who laid
the last."

Sometimes we become discouraged in the middle of a project. But
when the temptation to quit comes, let's remember, "The man who
laid the first brick laid the last."

Paul said, "And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due
time we shall reap if we do not grow weary" (Gal. 6:9).

When a college student wanted to dropout during his last
semester, his grandmother was adamant, "You can't quit." she
declared, "I've already bought a card for your graduation."

Paul was persistent. He said, "I have fought the good fight, I
have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (II Tim. 4:7).

So, when things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're treading seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

You never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.
----Author Unknown

Jesus said, "He who stands firm to the end will be saved" (Matt.
24:13).

Life requires trade-offs. No one can have everything. The
loftier your goal the more you'll have to sacrifice to reach it.
It's not that you can't have it. It's just that you'll have to
give up many other things to have it.

One young woman said she wanted to be an actress more than
anything and was very upset because she hadn't succeeded. Her
counselor asked, "How much time do you spend on your career?"
"Oh, I spend all my time." "You mean you don't sleep?" "Of
course I sleep." "You mean you don't have any friends?" "Oh,
sure I have a lot of friends!" "You don't have a job?" "Oh,
yes, I'm a secretary." Actually she spend about an hour a week
on her career.

A show business career required more time than that.

Sometimes we look at all we want to do and all we need to do,
and it's overwhelming. We say, "I can't do all this."
Furthermore, the backlog left undone from previous inertia
confuses us. We say, "What's the use?"

We must break this cycle by a physical act. Do
something-anything! If the house in a mess, pick up one thing
and do something with it. Put it away; throw it out; or send it
to charity. Pick up one more thing. Continue, and eventually
you'll have a clean house.

Discipline is essential for a successful life. Solomon
expressed it with an analogy: "Like a city that is broken into
and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit"
(Prov. 25:28).

****
(Word Count 2066)

These messages are from an unpublished manuscript © copyrighted
by Miles and Maralene Wesner, Idabel, OK. Please use them in
any way you think appropriate. The only thing we ask is that
you give credit for original material in published works.
Sermons with the "I" prefix are from our "What's the Good Word"
Series;

II from our "Pitfalls on the Path of Life"

III are sermons for special days and occasions.

EMAIL SERMON SERVICE is a free service from Diversity Press.

Material in our sermons usually present the Gospel from a
psychological point of view.

My ministry has been blessed immeasurably by reading other
people's sermons. When I started preaching 56 years ago, I
waited for "inspiration" (usually Saturday night, about
midnight) before I began my sermon preparation. Then, I
discovered it wasn't inspiration at all-it was sheer PANIC. I
would have welcomed this service.

Comments are always welcome. (Please indicate if you do not want
your comments to appear in New Perspectives).

Miles E Wesner