Discipline for Godliness - Spiritual Sweat!

DISCIPLINE:
Personal discipline is the indispensible key for accomplishing anything in this life. We have a crowd of models who demonstrated a disciplined life. Mike Singletary (football player), Tiger Wood (Professional Golfer), Ernest Hemingway (Nobel winner for literature), Dylan Thomas (poet), Michelangelo (painter), Leonardo da Vinci (artist), Winston Churchill (Politician), Thomas Eddison (inventer), Jascha Heifitz (violinist), and countless others, have left their mark on the parchment of time as people who achieved because they deemed it necessary to put in the disciplined effort to make their dreams a reality and possibility.
Truth is: We will never get anywhere in life without discipline, be it in the arts, business, sports, or academics. This is doubly so in spiritual matters. In some areas, we can claim some innate advantage, but none of us can claim an innate spiritual advantage, that we naturally seek God or instinctively do good (Rom 3: 9-18). Therefore, as children of grace, our spiritual discipline is an essential module, not an elective nor enrichment one.

SPIRITUAL SWEAT:
Paul, on discipline, stated in 1 Tim 4:7 that spiritual discipline took on not only transcending importance, but personal urgency. The word “train” comes from the word gumnos, which means “naked” and is the word from which we derive gymnasium (to exercise naked). In other words, it means to gymnasticise (exercise, work out, train) yourself for the purpose of godliness. He is calling for spiritual sweat!
Heb 12:1 throws out the question of what things are weighing you down? The call to discipline demands that you throw it off. The call to train ourself for godliness also suggests directing all our energy towards godliness (1 Cor 9:24-27). No manliness, no maturity! No discipline, no discipleship! No sweat, no sainthood! The old adage still stands: No pain, no gain. This, sadly, has been replaced by a much regretted adage of our latter day pain-aversive believers: No pain, no pain!

TWO REASONS FOR WHY THE DISCIPLINE:
First, in today’s world and Church, disciplined Christian lives are the exception, not the rule. Be it poor teaching or individual sloth, underlying much of the conscious rejection of spiritual discipline is the fear of legalism (Failure to differentiate between legalism and discipline). The difference is one of motivation. Legalism is self-centred; discipline is God-centred.
Second, men are so much less spiritually inclined and spiritually disciplined than women. Women appear to read more Christian literature, are more concerned about the spiritual welfare of their mates, believe that religion can answer today’s problem more than men, attend services more frequently, and are in the majority as far as going to Church with their spouses is concerned.
Why? The pervasive modern male credo of self-sufficiency and individualism does contribute. This may also be due to the male avoidance of anything relational. Men today need far more help in building spiritual discipline than women.
The Church needs real men, and we are the men. Whether or not we have disciplined ourself will make a big difference in this life and for the life to come. It builds the enduring architecture of one’s soul on the foundation of Christ - not gold, silver, and precious stones which will not survive the fires of judgment. It serve as a monument to Christ for eternity (1 Cor 3:10-15).
Spiritual discipline, rather than raise the feeling of stultifying constraints, actually liberates and frees us from the gravity of this present age and allow us to soar with the saints and the angels. Do I have the sweats in me? Will I enter the gymnasium of divine discipline? Will I strip away the things that hold me back? Will I discipline myself through the power of the Holy Spirit?

I think it was Leonard Ravenhill who said this:
"The world is looking for better methods; God is looking for a few good men!"
My answer to the questions above is (in the like of Martin Luther): I will.
"Here I stand. I can do no other. So help me God!"