Love and Discipline

I read something earlier this week that is so true:

Discipline does not produce love. But love produces discipline.

Think about it. You don't start loving your spouse through 'discipline' (I'll just think good thoughts about him, I know he's a jerk, but if I just think love thoughts three times a day . . . . .)
No! But if you truly love your spouse, then you discipline yourself in finding ways to communicate that love and in caring for them in ways that matter.

Same with our relationship with God.

We don't 'discipline' ourselves into a relationship with God. Nor does grinding out discipline alone bring back the fire when we're in the valley.

But, in the midst of that love relationship with God, we seek those disciplines that increase the depth and width of our love. It's those disciplines that help to continually move our journey to new and exciting levels.


"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." 2 Tim. 1:7