3 Things a Life of Self-Discipline Will Help You Accomplish
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An NBA basketball team can have up to fifteen players on the bench, but during the game, only five players can be on the floor. It is usually a big deal to be a starter because often you play the most minutes. However, when you get to the fourth quarter and the game is on the line, you want your best players on the floor. Sometimes that will be your starters, but it may also be a mix of those who start and those who come off the bench. The coach wants his best and most key players in at crunch time because he wants the team to finish strong and win the game. Regardless of how well you play through the first three quarters, if you don’t finish strong, you can still lose the game.
2. Personal Bible Study
One trap for leaders, especially pastors and teachers, is to only study the Bible to prepare for the next sermon or teaching time. As one who teaches on a weekly basis, I know how and why this can happen. We must move past reading for others and read for ourselves because there are things God wants to say just to you. Your personal Bible study when you get alone with God is just for you, not for your next message or sermon. Doing this gives room for God to minister to you and strengthen you.
This does not just affect leaders. Other people have so much on their plate they simply don’t have time to open their Bible. Both are traps, and they lead you to the same place – running on empty. Your two greatest sources of strength and nourishment in your life come from prayer and the word. These are probably the two most important disciplines because you can practice them anywhere. I promise you when you neglect these, you are not setting yourself up to finish well.
3. Personal Worship
Time spent alone in worship with God can be some of the most precious moments in your life. Worship lifts your perspective of who God is, and it is the way you enter God’s presence. Sometimes worship can be vocal and sometimes it can be silent, regardless it is your opportunity to just enjoy God’s presence. This keeps you focused and on track because when you spend time in God’s presence, your desire for sinful things will wane. You must make worship part of your daily life, not just limited to being in church. This will help you finish strong.
4. Personal Fellowship
This one can get overlooked, but you cannot escape the reality that we need each other. I need you and you need me. God did not plan for us to walk this journey alone. People who isolate and separate are destined for failure. Fellowship goes beyond just hanging out with other believers. Fellowship means having people in your life who will tell you the truth. If the circle of people who surround you will only agree with you and never tell you the truth, then you have set yourself up for failure.
When you go back to the earlier mention of pastors and leaders who fell into sin, many times the people close to them saw their weakness, but instead of confronting the leader they covered for them. This is the wrong type of fellowship. Surround yourself with people who will tell you what you need to hear and not what you want to hear, and you will set yourself up to finish strong.
After reading this, I hope your desire is to finish strong like Paul, because that is my desire. When Paul reached the end of his life, he made a statement that highlighted how his discipline had paid off.
Because he finished strong, he knew he would receive the reward for his disciplined life.
When you live a disciplined life, you do so with the end in mind. There is a commitment and sacrifice required to live in this manner, but when you reach the end of your journey on this earth, you will recognize it was all worth it.
More from this author
Did Jesus Contradict Himself When He Said the Father Is Greater Than I?
Have We Forgotten What It Means to Be a Servant?
Are You Loving People the Way Jesus Loved You?
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