This is an excerpt from the powerful book Working with the Law: 11 Truth Principles for Successful Living written by Raymond Holliwell.

The author uses the words "Law" and "God" interchangeably. Use whatever word you are most comfortable with. My personal preference is to use "Universe".  I’d like to remind you that this is a non-denominational site.

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Holliwell writes of Abe Lincoln, and how this great president started as a poor boy yet made it to the White House. Lincoln’s mother had taught him that “the beginning of wisdom is not imposed by discipline, but the beginning of wisdom is first the desire for discipline, the love of it, the voluntary choice of it.” From this he learned that discipline, and the love of it, leads to everything that makes life worth living. Every successful performing artist is such, not because they were born with a beautiful voice, but because they used discipline to master their art.

We are a disciplined society except in the area of our morals and our thoughts. We produce brilliant scientists, gifted athletes, and amazing technology. But we do not discipline our minds—we let them roam wild and free, with no sense of control. You cannot reach your goals and ambitions until you learn to discipline your mind and control your thoughts. Your mind must be in order, and your ideals in harmony with the Divine mind, according to the Law.

In order to get anything in life, you must sacrifice something else. Whether you pay for something you buy, or give up your time to become a fabulous singer, you are paying for everything you get. Nothing escapes this Law, and it must be obeyed.

We would like to have a life of freedom with no sacrifice necessary, but the Law requires that in order to find the richness in life, we must give up something else. There is no way around this Law. We often mistake this Law in thinking that it means we must give up many pleasures, in order to have a good life. This is not the case. People sometimes consider Jesus as one of the greatest “sacrificers” of all time. But the price Judas paid was far greater than that of Jesus. Jesus had the opportunity to do great things, and so He did. Judas made a wrong choice, and threw away the greatest chance he ever had at becoming something great. That was his tremendous price.

Think of the man who has a lovely home and family, yet he becomes bored and begins a fling with another woman. He eventually has to sacrifice either the family life or the wild life—he cannot have both. And a man cannot have both a bad temper and good friends who would tolerate him for long. He must sacrifice one or the other. You cannot get away with anything without paying a price—the Law will not permit you.

However, this does not mean that you must give up your freedom in order to have an enjoyable life. That is not real freedom. “Freedom is in being able to control your life and in making it what you want it to be.” In order to have or be something worthwhile, you must first have the desire for discipline of your time and your thoughts. Without discipline, your life will be chaotic and insane.

Taking the high road, the love of discipline, will lead you to everything that makes life worth living. On it the Law of Sacrifice will bring you all the joys and pleasures that life has to offer. And this was the road that led young Abe Lincoln to the White House.

Do not succumb to temptation; it may cost you your dreams.

Order Working with the Law

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