Developing Self Discipline

Some thoughts now to those who want to improve their self discipline. To improve their effectiveness in living. To develop the ability to concentrate, focus on goals and consistently stay within parameters they have established for success. To break the addiction to ease.

As difficult as it is to break that addiction and to begin Developing Self Discipline, the person who walks with God has the promise of 2 Timothy 1:6-7 “This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”

God has given His children a spirit of power, love and self discipline. We are instructed to “fan the flame” – to cause those gifts from God to grow. The process begins with:

1.”Ya gotta wanna.” Own the destructiveness of the addiction. Face the pain of regret. For example, if I don’t break the addiction to ease regarding physical exercise and memorizing Scripture, my mind and body will be affected. In a sense, I’m sinning against my own body and that can affect others close to me.

Many find themselves saying, “But what do I do if even after facing the pain of regret, I still don’t have the motivation to expend the effort to grow in self discipline?” As a follower of Christ, we can go to Him and say, “God, I seemingly can’t muster up the wherewithal to begin this task. Would you empower me to “want to?” Philippians 2:13 tells us that God not only helps us obey but also helps us want to obey. And we pray that long, theological prayer, “HELP! God, I want to be a more effective disciple of yours. HELP."

2. As the process continues, consider having a helper. I’ve never observed a person with low self discipline ever change significantly without an accountability partner. James 5:16 tells us, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”

Connect with a person who can shoot straight with you in an encouraging way. “Joe, tomorrow I’m setting as an objective to have 15 minutes in Bible reading and prayer and 15 minutes of a brisk walk.” A quick 30 second reporting in phone call ensues the following night stating the day's results. The process is repeated until a little change is observed which can signal the “reporting in” procedure can be every other night, until connection once a week or once a month is sufficient.

More on the process in tomorrow's post.