SEPTEMBER 23, 2025

  “A disciplined mind leads to happiness, and an undisciplined mind leads to suffering.” 

― Dalai Lama XIV, The Art of Happiness

SONG OF SOLOMON 6-8

7Many waters cannot quench love;

rivers cannot sweep it away.

If one were to give

all the wealth of one’s house for love,

it^c would be utterly scorned. (8:7) 

GALATIANS 1

10Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

JOURNAL 

Teaching 7th graders has a way of holding up a mirror to my own struggles. Their behavior is so often tied to their immediate emotions; anger, frustration, excitement, distraction. It’s easy to complain that they lack self-control. But the truth is, I am no different.

How often do I allow my own emotions and compulsions to dictate my choices? Even now as I write, I feel the urge to get up and walk away, to give in to restlessness. Yet I am choosing to stay, to be still, and to finish this devotion. This small act of discipline reminds me that freedom comes not from indulging every urge but from standing apart from my emotions and deciding whether to follow them or let them pass.

Scripture calls me to that kind of holy discipline. Paul reminds me in Galatians 1:10 that my goal is not to please people but to serve Christ. That requires focus, courage, and the boldness Proverbs describes the kind of boldness that comes not from running from emotions or trying to suppress them, but from ordering them under God’s Spirit.

Love itself, as Song of Solomon 8:7 declares, cannot be quenched or bought. It flows stronger than waters and richer than wealth. To live with a disciplined mind is to be rooted in that unquenchable love, to resist the chaos of emotions that seek to sweep me away, and to instead choose faithfulness to God.

Discipline, then, is not about harsh control. It is about freedom...freedom to live in truth, freedom to stand firm in God’s presence, freedom to be bold as a lion (Proverbs 28:1) because my mind and heart are fixed not on pleasing others, but on walking faithfully with Christ.

1The wicked flee though no one pursues,

but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

2When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers,

but a ruler with discernment and knowledge maintains order.

PROVERBS 28:1-2