Discipline begins with small things done daily.

Mark Twain once said: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.”

That’s good advice, whether you want to finish a short-term project, or you desire to get good at something over a long period of time.

Knowing God doesn’t happen overnight; it takes a lifetime. And it starts with one small task (such as reading the Bible for fifteen minutes every day) repeated over and over again. Remember that that the heart of discipline is repetition, not completion. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t “get ahead” as soon as you would like. On the other hand, don’t just discipline yourself for the sake of discipline. Have a goal in mind–such as knowing God better–so that your daily routine of discipline takes on meaning.

Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

Hebrews 10:23