We cannot live in neutral and expect to coast into fulfilling the call of God on our lives. We must put ourselves in gear, allow the Holy Spirit to identify the areas of our lives that need self-discipline and then daily make the choice to take up our cross and follow Him.
The nature of discipline is doing the things we don’t exactly feel like doing. Self-discipline is a highway, taking us off the roads full of traffic and frequent stops and setting us on a clear, focused, straight path that enables us to do the most with our lives.
Here are a few areas that are especially important to be disciplined in.
Time Management Discipline
Your life may be spiritually dry because you are not committed to disciplining your time so you can have a devotional life.
You don’t read your Bible faithfully and systematically every day.
You don’t take time to pray and seek the Lord.
Why should you be disciplined with your time? Because you have a higher call. You are under God’s command, and your life has been given to Him.
Finances
Be ruthlessly disciplined about avoiding debt. Avoid unnecessary luxuries and don’t be wasteful in spending money. There are dangers in times of ease and prosperity that can be avoided only by our deliberate act and commitment to stay disciplined in this area.
Maintaining Relationships
Stay connected with those you have met along your journey and be a source of encouragement for them. Don’t be so focused on work that you forget people. Look out for others and take interest in the lives of those with whom you serve, remembering that you are part of the family of God. We all need each other.
Work Ethic
Do you maintain the life of discipline in the workplace, making certain that you keep yourself from unnecessary and idle distractions and use your time at work to the maximum potential? Let us work diligently and as unto the Lord. Keep a daily log of how your workday progresses and ask the Holy Spirit to help you keep focused and work diligently.
Temperament
Are you easily angered? Do you quickly get impatient with others? Our attitudes are so powerful and can either be used for good or for destruction. You must keep a handle on your temper. An undisciplined temperament can only hurt you and others.
Developing Gifts
Are you lazy, and because of that are not developing the gifts God has given you? Consider what gifts the Lord has given you and work to develop them and use them for His glory.
Stewardship
Are you disciplined in taking care of your possessions? God has entrusted certain things to your care. Don’t take for granted what you have; take care of it. God trusts those who are faithful in little things.
Conversations
Do you keep a careful watch on your tongue and the things that you say? We must learn to do so. The servant of God should not quarrel but must be a gentle servant to others. Let your words be full of grace, kindness and mercy.
Friendships
What kind of people are you making friends with? “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character’” (1 Corinthians 15:33). Also ask yourself, What kind of friend am I? Be the kind of friend you would like to have. Think of ways to affirm your love and commitment to others, even those who have made mistakes.
Those with the greatest impact on our world are those who lived disciplined lives. Vigorous discipline is the expression of the inner life and commitment to God. Let us learn to be disciplined.
Dr. KP Yohannan, founder and international director of Gospel for Asia, has written more than 200 books, including Revolution in World Missions, and international bestseller with more than 3 million copies in print. He and his wife, Gisela, have two grown children, Daniel and Sarah, who both serve the Lord with their families.
Gospel for Asia has been serving the “least of these” in Asia since its beginning in 1979, often in places where no one else is serving. GFA supports national workers who are serving as the hands and feet of Christ by ministering to people’s needs so they can understand the love of God for them for the first time. GFA is engaged in dozens of projects, such as caring for poor children, slum dwellers and widows and orphans; providing clean water by funding wells; supporting medical missions; and meeting the needs of those in leprosy colonies. Through GFA’s Bridge of Hope Program, tens of thousands of children are being rescued from the generational curses of poverty and hopelessness.
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