No one likes practicing with a metronome all the time. Sometimes we like playing freely, at our own tempo, ignoring mistakes or going back to fix them as we choose, with no metronomic overlord. But we still go back to using a metronome when we need it. We do it for the results.
No one likes following God’s rules all the time either. Sometimes we just don’t feel like speaking kindly to an annoying co-worker. Sometimes we just don’t feel like being content with what we have. Sometimes we just don’t feel like being loving toward everyone, especially that guy on the freeway in front of us.
Discipline involves following through on what we know to be right, even when we don’t want to. The more times we refuse to give in to temptation, the stronger our will power will be the next time.
Discipline becomes easier as we fix our eyes on Jesus. Remember how He lived His life. Remember what He has done for us, living His life perfectly here on Earth, standing firm against every temptation, in order to pay the penalty for our own mistakes. With that unimaginable gift from God in mind, discipline becomes a little easier. Doing the right thing becomes more enticing, more promising, more rewarding. It will still be hard many, many times! But each time we fall, tripped up by our own tangling sin, let us get up once again and persevere. Discipline and perseverance will produce results.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
Hebrews 12:1-2a