A friend of mine sent me a snippet of a book he was reading, wondering if I would agree with these paragraphs:

Do I agree with this snippet from the book? Yes, by and large. My friend said, “I agree with it overall. I just took a little exception to the ‘discipline alone’ phrase. Even discipline is accompanied by grace.”

And I responded to him the way I always respond when this question comes up:

Of course we need grace. Grace is God’s department. And I’m not worried about God doing his part. I am worried about you doing your part.

Then I referred him to the perspective of the Apostle Paul:

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (1 Corinthians 15.10, ESV)

Paul said, “Yes, it’s grace, but yes, I worked very hard!” I’m listening to When the Game Was Ours by Larry Bird and Earvin Magic Johnson. These two gifted basketball players had tools the rest of us don’t have…BUT, they worked very hard. Once, the day after Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics won the NBA championship, a teammate called on him at his home to continue the celebration. But Larry wasn’t there. He had already started his morning workout, getting ready for the next season. When he developed a new shot, Larry practiced it 800 times/day in addition to whatever else he was doing to train.

So, yes, there’s no substitute for discipline.

Train yourself for godliness. (1 Timothy 4.7, ESV)

Perhaps we’ll continue this discussion tomorrow!