Girl, Make Your Bed……
“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.
Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
Hebrews 12:11 NIV
Did you make your bed this morning? Or are the rumpled sheets still a witness to your dreams last night, and the rush to get ready this morning?
Discipline is my word for 2022. I need to apply some order to the chaos resulting from two years during which schedules and plans went out the door, I wore yoga pants endlessly, every event I looked forward to was upended and we took on major home renovations that just.wouldn’t.end.
When my children were young, I copied Hebrews 12:11 onto multiple note cards and taped them up in every room of our home where I could see them. I wanted the visual reminder that discipline reaps results.
I was trying to encourage myself to do the hard work of intentional training, instead of the easy, lazy route of letting things slide. I am certain now that I had no idea what the word “discipline” in that passage truly meant, and the power behind its meaning. Since discipline is my 2022 word, I did a word study on the Biblical meaning to get my mind and heart ready for living out the concept.
Although our culture may read the word discipline as chastisement or correction, that narrow interpretation cheats us of the full appreciation of the Greek word used in the Hebrews passage, which is paideia. The word has a rich history that offers so much energy and value to our lives. The Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature reports that paideia is the act of providing guidance for responsible living, upbringing, training and instruction.[1] The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament notes that paideia is “the upbringing and handling of the child which is growing up to maturity and which needs direction, teaching, instruction, and a certain measure of…compulsion.” [2] Paideia is a method of education and cultivation that must be experienced but also a goal that is to be acquired from such experience.
The writer of Hebrews conveys the rich meaning of paideia when he says that it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those trained by it. That is the true goal of paideia. It is not merely correction, but modeling the actions, behaviors, and reactions that build a positive spirit, outlook and the ordered practices of daily life. Paideia, at its core, is an immense blessing for those shaped by it.
From this vantage point I can see how my own mother practiced paideia in so much of her life and how she passed those practices on to me. One of the simplest examples is my mother’s consistent habit of making her bed every day. My father used to say that if she got out of bed before him, she made the bed while he was still in it. She trained each of us to make our beds every day as well. Making the bed left the room tidy and ready for the day.
Her discipline is powerful and long lasting. (Isn’t that the point?) My mother is currently in a rehab facility recovering from a serious fall. But EVERY DAY, she slides her walker around her hospital bed, and makes the bed. Despite the fact that there is housekeeping staff for that purpose, she does it herself. She doesn’t like the disarray of an unmade bed.
Recently two dear friends came for a good, long visit. I arrived for my own visit with her just after they left and mother expressed frustration. She said to me “This is the ONLY day that I have not made up my bed since I could walk again, and I had company TODAY!” I assured her that there would be no judgment as she is recovering from two broken knee caps, but it upset her all the same. She explained that she did not make the bed up for others, but for herself.
I understand what she meant. I am like my mother. Few things put me in a worse mood than coming into our room after I am up and dressed and finding an unmade bed.
Making the bed each morning is a small act of discipline with several important results. First, it signals the beginning of the day. Second, it makes the bedroom attractive and orderly. I am a visual person, and I like the sight of a bed that is made and tidy. And third, it reminds me to begin my day with gratitude, because the last pillow that I place on the bed is one that says “Grateful Hearts.” Practicing gratitude is one of the most life giving and nourishing disciplines of my life, and I love having the physical reminder to begin each day with a grateful heart.
Paideia, the discipline that creates an ordered life, begins with simple acts repeated with consistency. I am building these simple acts back into the routine of my life. The small steps build the foundation for larger steps that will reap a harvest of righteousness and peace as I take control and re-build a more beautiful, God honoring life.
Today, I encourage you to take one step toward a life characterized by the peace of paideia. Make your bed and enjoy the positive effects of a simple step of discipline. Then look for the next place to practice paideia, and add that into your life. Weave activities consistently into your life and watch as this “produces a harvest of righteousness and peace.”
[1] BDAG: A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., ed. Frederick William Danker (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001), p. 748.
[2] TDNT (BIG KITTEL): Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT Complete),Edited by Gerhard Kittel (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 1964), p. 596.