What’s your reaction to a blog title of “Discipline!”? Most of us have a negative reaction, don’t we? Either it’s synonymous with punishment or it’s part of an arduous training process as in Hebrews 12.11:

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (ESV)

But I want to write about the discipline I observed at the auto mechanics’ shop when my headlights were fixed. It was a joy to watch.

When I went out to watch Ben work, he was in the process of buffing the headlight lenses. He had a little case that had a small air-powered buffer, two different pads, and two different buffing compounds. Upon completing the work, he carefully returned all the pieces into the case. Everything else he picked up, after he used it, he returned it to where it was. Discipline. Attention to the little things.

When Ben opened the garage door to back my car out, he saw a 55-gallon drum of brake wash outside the door that a vendor had dropped off. He rolled that inside. The men have apparently been trained to do what needs to be done when you notice that it needs to be done. Discipline.

And the best news is that when I arranged to have the work done, I scheduled 1:00 pm, knowing I had to leave by 2:00 pm in order to get to a meeting. And, guess what? I was ready to leave by 2:00 pm. With a 45-minute drive in front of me, I stopped by the bathroom. Surprise, surprise, it was clean! More evidence of discipline, and maybe the art-signs posted there for the employees to see were part of it:

I enjoy excellence and discipline wherever I find it. Good work done well is an art-form.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-discipline. (2 Timothy 1.7, NLT)

Those who disregard discipline despise themselves, but the one who heeds correction gains understanding. (Proverbs 15.32, NIV)