Discipline is “doing the right thing.” It is usually mentioned when doing the right thing is not what we really want to do at the time.

When we are children, our parents sometimes had to provide the discipline, making us do the right thing when we didn’t want to. When we mature, however, we build “self-discipline” where we will do the right thing on our own.

One challenge as we become more mature and self-disciplined is that we become more confident in our own opinions, and become resistant to correction from outside.

If we are following God, he is always there providing us discipline when we need it, and subtle correction when we need that. We need to keep our mind attentive to his inputs that may come from our conscience, comments from others, bible studies, or many other places.

Proverbs 15:30 says, “If you reject discipline, you only harm yourself; but if you listen to correction, you grow in understanding.” We need to look for God’s corrections that will improve our understanding of our situations.

Dear Lord, thank you for providing guidance to help us with our lives direction. Help us listen for it and be open to your correction. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.