Daily Encouragement: Year 1, Day 54
Adapted from Handbook to Leadership
Personal Development: Self-Discipline
Solomon warned about the danger of not exercising self-discipline as we examine our close association with others. He spoke about the righteous man who is “a guide to his neighbor.” The man to whom Solomon referred was intentional about choosing his friendships with care, then continued to examine the nature of those friendships (see also 18:24 and 22:24). Solomon knew the harm that could come to a person who chose not to closely examine the personal effects of a negative, destructive, or even “wicked” friendship.
This kind of self-discipline is challenging because it involves evaluating relationships with other people—some of which are extremely difficult to manage—recognizing their destructive attributes, and then acting to change the nature of the relationship or to cut it off. Doing so requires a great deal of personal self-evaluation and self-discipline, because more often than not a good deal of the relationship dynamic—for good or for ill—has to do with us.