Legalism or disciplinism.. ooh, I mean discipline.

I've been thinking about legalism and discipline a lot lately. Christianity is about a relationship with Jesus, not about doing things to get onto God's right side. However, as a people who like controlling our futures, we inevitably all have to wean ourselves out of this mindset that we can do things to make God happy, or that we can behave a certain way to make God like us more e.g. I've heard of a few churches where there's a strict dress code on what can and cannot be worn if you're a Christian. Isn't that a bit legalistic, I wonder, acting as if there's legal requirements you need to enter into to be a Christian?

On the other hand, I've also come to realize that there's value into setting standards/ certain measures for yourself. Because of my foot injury, I should be doing these foot and leg muscles regularly. But every now and then when I've reached a point of being able to stand on my sore foot for more than 2 minutes, or able to do 30 reps of another exercise, I decide that I'm fixed and healed and then stop doing my exercises. Much to the ire of my physio, because at my next session with her, I discover (once again) that my muscles kinda don't grow on their own, and that I can't stand for more than a minute. This is where discipline comes in - me having to do my exercises the set number of times a week despite whether I think I'm fully better or not, whether I like it or not.

Now let's see how this would work out in the Christian walk. Suzy Q (a pseudonym for me) (ooh, I obviously don't get how this pseudonym thing works) decides that she's not going to push herself to read her bible every day, lest it become a matter of legalism. But, before you know it, soon she ain't reading anymore, and slowly she's not really listening to God's voice throughout the day anymore. Whereas, say Suzy Q had decided that the daily reading would be a matter of discipline, and that she'll do it whether she likes it or not.. And she keeps at it, and grows in more and more understanding of God's character.

I suppose it's a matter of your attitude - one man's legalism can be someone else's discipline, and vice versa. I think the challenge for us is to question which things we've been avoiding because we manage to convince ourselves that to be disciplined about it would be legalistic?