PURPOSE: To help listeners realize what discipline can and cannot do.

We received a pain-filled letter from a listener who told about her struggle to be a godly person and then asked, "How can I be good? How do I keep the commandments?"

What do you know about the listener from that simple question? Can you identify with her?

I. Many Christians feel that they have to make themselves holy.

Some Christians believe that God's task is to be sure that He is holy, and our job is to be sure we are holy.

There is a Rambo approach to being holy that says that if the Bible tells us to do something, we have to do it. It's up to us.

II. One major approach to the Christian life is through discipline.

What is asceticism?

In the past, some lived in caves with little water and food.

One monk would stand until he'd fall down in exhaustion so that he would not give in to the appetites of his body.

Can you think of ways in which asceticism shows up in living the Christian life today?

These people were deeply sincere about their devotion to God. Can sincerity lead us astray?

III. What place does discipline have in living the Christian life?