One of my favorite podcasters is former Navy seal and author Jocko Willink. He has coined the phrase discipline equals freedom. In the phrase discipline equals freedom, Jocko is talking about having the discipline to push through to freedom, such as financial freedom. A daily grind that we must endure so that we can reach our earthly goals, goals that ultimately don’t matter, goals that we can store upon the earth, and never take with us. These goals can become the yoke that is heavy and burdensome and comes from living in the world we live in. But what if we rearrange this statement to read; With Freedom comes Discipline.
In Galatians 5:13, Paul says in a letter, “For you were all called to freedom brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
We all have the choice of freedom from this world, but it takes real discipline to stay on the path that comes with this freedom. I know that for me, I have personally been struggling with staying on the path and even getting the two statements confused with each other. I was thinking of the path as a way to get what I want in the world, not being on the path of discipline so that I can serve and love others. I actually needed to be reminded of this and what my motivation is. The freedom that we get from God comes with a mission. It should be our motivation to stay on the path. To serve and love those around us, men that may be weaker than us, men that might not even know God. So what steps do we need to take:
First, we must recognize that we have we are free from the heaviness of this world. We have a path we can choose to follow or not. Second, we must embrace this path and step into it with strength and boldness so that we can maintain a disciplined life. A life that is worthy of example and influence so that we can complete the mission that God has given each of us. No, it’s not easy, and yes, we need God, but he has given us freedom from this world so that we can look to him for all that we need and have the discipline and strength to lead by example in our families, our work, and our church. So my question for you is:
How can you use your God-given freedom to serve the men and people that God has put in my life?
The Forge 