The Freedom Most Christian Leaders Miss: Why Discipline Isn’t the Enemy
Jan 13
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I've bungee jumped off bridges, skydived from planes, run six marathons, started three churches, earned four college degrees in completely different fields, and lived in 17 different houses. People often tell me I'm adventurous, spontaneous, living life to the fullest. But here's the secret they don't see: none of this freedom would be possible without the rigid discipline that governs my daily life.
It sounds completely backwards, doesn't it? But it's true.
The Freedom Paradox
From Proverbs 15:32 (MSG) "An undisciplined, self-willed life is puny; an obedient, God-willed life is spacious." This verse reminds me that it's my habits, routines, and rhythms that actually create freedom. Real freedom isn't doing whatever you feel like doing in the moment. Rather, it's having the boundaries in your life that allow you to do whatever needs to be done when it needs to be done. It's having the margins to pursue what you want because you've already covered what you need.
There is more freedom in discipline. Those without restraints are driven by desires, and their desires determine their drives. These drives are often counterproductive to their own health. We see this in those who achieve fame or fortune early in life. Reflect on how they live their lives and where they often end up. Most often, they didn't develop habits of health reinforced by routines or rhythms of well-being. They may have succeeded physically or in one area, but Biblical health is defined across physical, emotional, mental, relational, and spiritual dimensions, as we see with Jesus growing in health in Luke 2:52.
From Puny to Spacious
As one develops habits that reinforce healthy routines in all areas, they begin to find the ability to choose the direction they truly desire. They aren't driven by short-term wants or desires. Instead, they have the capacity to choose a direction and pursue it in their whole life, not just a single dimension. The verse states that the undisciplined live a puny life because it's so short-term defined. It isn't expansive and spacious like the life of one who has set healthy boundaries that provide long-term health and direction.
My "In the Moment" Life (Within Boundaries)
Personally, I'm someone who has lived in the moment for much of my life. But when I say "living in the moment," I fully allow my in-the-moment choices to exist within the jurisdiction of certain routines that govern my long-term health. I have tremendous freedom to do what I want within the moment if it reinforces my long-term rhythms of health.
That's why I've been able to do so many things that were kind of on the edge:
Run six marathons and countless other distance races
Complete numerous half marathons and 15Ks
Bungee jump
Skydive
Bike the Horrible Hundred (and own a very expensive bike I enjoy riding)
Lift weights regularly
Pursue seven different careers (not jobs, but careers)
Personally participated in starting three churches
Earn four college degrees in very different fields
Own and drive several sports cars
Read extensively on different subjects
Use the latest technology
Hike very challenging trails around the world
Live in 17 houses within our marriage
Make my own kombucha and chai
I've enjoyed life tremendously doing what appealed to me. However, I've maintained certain routines that keep me centered toward health.
The Non-Negotiables That Make Everything Else Negotiable
These routines or habits can be different for everyone, but I have needed these for maintaining a healthy balance, given my "in the moment" personality. This list of "exercises" has been consistent across my life and continues to center me:
Journaling
Reading the Bible
Prayer
Reflecting on what God's Word is saying to me
Going to bed at 10:00 pm and rising around 7:00 am
Writing about something
Reading (or listening) for personal growth
Physical exercise to maintain a modicum of conditioning
Flossing and brushing teeth
Making my bed before leaving my bedroom
Shaving
Saying hi to most strangers
Affirming workers who serve in many menial ways
Saying something positive to MK
Eating well and maintaining a healthy body weight
Sure, some of these have waxed or waned over the years, but for the most part, each has been consistent for long seasons of my life. When I was young, I set goals in each of five areas (physical, emotional, mental, relational, and spiritual), but as I've aged, they've simply become habits of who I am or the way I live. I don't monitor them through goals anymore.
The Way I Live
Each of these habits (and others) is not rigidly followed. They're simply the way I live my life. If I miss one, my life doesn't fall apart, but I sense part of me is missing. So I seek to maintain these habits because they are who I am and allow me to be a person who has the freedom to do whatever may be needed without allowing that to skew my long-term prevailing health.
The paradox is real. The more disciplined I am, the freer I become.