In reading "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis, I came across this passage:

"Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible."
Chapter 9, page 132.

This statement amplifies the point that life is a journey and that if we discipline ourselves now or allow God to discipline us, good will come of it. We are called to grow in relationship to God and to others.


Philippians 2:11-13 (New International Version)

12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.