Splink | Disciplined Living

Daily Discipline

Watch an athletic event (or musical event) together (something that requires practice and more practice).

Ask your kids:

What does it take for someone to be able to compete on a team (in an orchestra)?

How many hours a day do you think they practice?

In order to do something really well, a person has to be disciplined.

Do you think those athletes slept in when they were supposed to be practicing?

Do you think they ate junk food all the time?

Do you think they always WANTED to practice?

Read 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. Paul wrote this to the people in Corinth who probably knew about races and competitions. He said that Christians should discipline themselves to do what is right to gain a better prize than one that would fade away (like a crown of flowers or a gold medal). Christians should give their very best to God and He will give a reward that will last forever in Heaven.

Stronger Every Day

Hold a weight-lifting contest. Invite the kids to carefully try to lift things (if you have small weights that would be great; if not, start with cans of vegetables, books, etc. Explain that when you were their age, you could only lift a small weight, but now you can lift a much heavier weight. (Demonstrate by lifting heavier weights.)

Ask:
Why do you think that has happened? What seemed hard for me then doesn’t seem hard for me now, because I’ve grown stronger.

How did I get stronger? (Eating good food; exercising; lifting heavier things; etc.)

Just as our bodies get stronger by lifting slightly heavier weights, we can get stronger by disciplining ourselves to do the right things. When we make right choices and trust God in hard times day after day, our faith will grow stronger!

This is the Way We….

Build good habits to help your kids become more disciplined. Habits help everyone know what to do and follow through with less effort. (I still can’t go to bed without brushing my teeth—or at least without hearing my mom’s voice making me get out of bed to do it!)

What are some good habits?
Brush their teeth. Pray before a meal. Say a prayer before bedtime. Sing in the car. Read the Bible at the breakfast table. Hang up their coat. Make their bed. Do their homework right after school.

What is important to you? Those are the habits to teach this year. Pick one a week and start