Note 2 Self
Note 2 Self: Practicing Self Discipline
24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.
The only reason to run a race is to be the one who “receives the prize”; no competitor wants to finish second. That’s why Paul exhorts Christians to “run in such a way that you may win” (v. 24). How do we do that? By exercising “self–control in all things” (v. 25). In the Christian life, as in athletic competition, victory goes to the self–disciplined. World–class athletes spend a staggering amount of time in training. They may train many hours a day for several years of their lives, forcing themselves to ignore pain in order to master their sport. They do it to receive the modern equivalent of a “perishable wreath”; believers exercise self–discipline for the imperishable “crown of righteousness”
An athlete’s hard training, however, will be wasted if he or she violates the rules of competition. We’ve all seen the frustration of Olympic skiers who accidentally missed a gate on the slalom course and were disqualified. Other athletes have deliberately cheated, bringing shame and dishonor on both themselves and their countries. “Therefore,” wrote Paul in verse 26, “I run in such a way, as not without aim.” He made certain he stayed on course, knowing that, as he later wrote to Timothy, “If anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules”
Paul feared lest, having “preached to others, [he himself] should be disqualified” (v. 27). He didn’t want the lack of self–discipline to cause him to miss out on spiritual victory.
Self–discipline may be defined as the ability to regulate one’s conduct by principle and sound judgment rather than by impulse, desire, or social custom.
1# How TO develop Self-Discipline
Biblically, self–discipline may be summarized in one word: obedience. To exercise self–discipline in spiritual things is to avoid evil by staying within the bounds of God’s law.
Self–discipline is important in any endeavor of life. I’m grateful for my parents, coaches, professors, and others who helped me develop self–discipline in my own life. People who have the ability to concentrate, focus on their goals, and consistently stay within their priorities tend to succeed. Whether in academics, the arts, or athletics, success generally comes to the self–disciplined.
Get yourself organized. Make a schedule, however detailed or general you are comfortable with, and stick to it. Have a to–do list of tasks you need to accomplish. Using a daily planning book or a personal information manager program on your computer would be helpful. However you do it, get organized, even if all you do is jot down appointments and to–do items on a piece of scrap paper. The simple reality is that if you don’t control your time, everything (and everyone) else will.
Don’t constantly seek to be entertained. When you have free time, do things that are productive instead of merely entertaining.
In other words, learn to entertain yourself with things that are challenging, stimulating, and creative. Things that are of no value except to entertain you make a very small contribution to your well–being.
Be on time. If you’re supposed to be somewhere at a specific time, be there on time
The apostle Paul listed proper use of time as a mark of true spiritual wisdom:
Being punctual marks a life that is organized. It reveals a person whose desires, activities, and responsibilities are under control, allowing him to get where he needs to be when he needs to be there. Being on time also acknowledges the importance of other people and the value of their time.
If you say you’re going to do something, do it—when you said you would do it and how you said you would do it. When you make commitments, see them through. That calls for the discipline to properly evaluate whether you have the time and capability to do something. And once you’ve made the commitment, self–discipline will enable you to keep it.
Do the most difficult tasks first. Most people do just the opposite, spending their time doing the easier, low–priority tasks. But when they run out of time (and energy), the difficult, high–priority tasks are left undone.
Finish what you start. Some people’s lives are a sad litany of unfinished projects.
If you start something, finish it. Therein lies an important key to developing self–discipline.
Accept correction. Correction helps you develop self–discipline by showing you what you need to avoid. Thus, it should not be rejected but accepted gladly. Solomon wrote,
Practice self–denial. Learn to say no to your feelings and impulses. Occasionally deny yourself pleasures that are perfectly legitimate for you to enjoy. Skip dessert after a meal. Drink a glass of iced tea instead of having that banana split you love. Don’t eat that doughnut that caught your eye. Refraining from those things will remind your body who is in charge.
Welcome responsibility. Volunteer to do things that need to be done. That will force you to have your life organized enough to have time for such projects.
These practical suggestions may not seem to involve any deep spiritual principles. Yet we cannot split our lives into the secular and the spiritual. Instead we must live every aspect of our lives to the glory of God
And self–discipline cultivated in the seemingly mundane things of life will spill over into the spiritual realm.
# 2 The Motivation For Developing Self-Discipline
Self–discipline is essential for spiritual victory and growth; that alone should motivate Christians to pursue it diligently. In 1 Peter 1:13 Peter wrote
Peter’s picture is that of a Roman soldier preparing for battle. To avoid being encumbered by his tunic, a soldier would tuck its loose ends into his sash. Spiritual victory begins with a commitment to pull together all the loose ends in our thinking.
Believers do that by keeping “sober in spirit.” “Sober” in this context does not refer to not being drunk; rather, it speaks of being clear–minded and understanding priorities. To prioritize our thinking means to think about those things we ought to think about—those things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent, and worthy of praise (Phil. 4:8).
A disciplined mind avoids the intoxicating allurements of the world. It is clear, with fixed and balanced priorities, resulting in moral decisiveness. People who possess a disciplined mind do not whimsically careen through life in reckless self–indulgence. They live by principle, not emotion. That’s why sound doctrine is so important; believers need divine truth firmly fixed in their minds, so that it controls their priorities.
In Romans 13:13–14 the apostle Paul contrasted an undisciplined mind with one controlled by biblical truth:
The opposite of careening recklessly through life, giving in to every sinful lust, impulse, and desire, is to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Those who have done so possess “the mind of Christ
To the Thessalonians Paul wrote
In his first epistle, Peter exhorted believers to be sober in their thinking for a second time:
A sober mind is an excellent defense against Satan’s attacks.
THE BIBLICAL PRIORITIES OF A SELF–DISCIPLINED PERSON
The Biblical Priorities Of A Self Disciplined Person
Remember Who Owns You
Our narcissistic, self–absorbed, self–centered society constantly tells us that we are the kings of our own little worlds, that we have the right to be what we want to be, to set our own goals, pursue our own dreams, choose our own lifestyles, and ignore those who tell us what to do or stand in our way. The two hallmarks of our culture are personal rights and personal freedom. But the Bible in no uncertain terms teaches the very opposite. Scripture reveals God as the rightful owner of all men because He created them and of all of us who are believers because He is our Father who purchased us.
Believers also belong to God because He bought them at an immeasurable cost—the death of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. “Do you not know,” Paul demanded of the Corinthians, “that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?”
Paul described the church as having been “purchased with His own blood,” while he wrote to the Galatians that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’” (3:13). The fearful price God paid to redeem believers was the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross, where He became a curse for us. The sinless Son of God took believers’ sins upon Himself (2 Cor. 5:21), fully satisfying the demands of God’s justice (Rom. 3:26) and appeasing His holy wrath against sin (Rom. 3:25).
That realization was at the heart of the apostle Paul’s unswerving loyalty, dedication, and commitment to God. He never got over the wonder that God would choose to save him—a man who had savagely, relentlessly persecuted God’s people. Even late in his life, many years after God saved him on the Damascus road, he exclaimed,
Paul’s recognition of all the implications of his salvation drove him to sacrifice his comfort, his health, and eventually his life for the God who had redeemed him. Unlike many Christians, the noble apostle never forgot that at the moment of his salvation he became God’s obedient son and bond–slave. And he faithfully rendered through all the difficulties of his life the obedience due to his Father and Master. Those who, like Paul, recognize that they are not the sovereign rulers of their lives take an important step toward self–discipline.
It is a foundational truth, clearly and unequivocally taught throughout Scripture, that salvation is wholly a work of God. Unregenerate sinners, being dead in sin (Eph. 2:1), are helpless to save themselves (Rom. 5:6). Had God not chosen believers for salvation before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4; 2 Thess. 2:13), sent Christ to die for their sins (Rom. 5:8–9), and regenerated them through the power of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5), none would be saved.
But there is another aspect to salvation. Divine sovereignty does not eliminate human responsibility. In salvation, God promises to forgive repentant sinners, to pour out His grace on them and bring them to glory. But believers also make a promise at salvation, a promise to obey Jesus Christ as their Lord. That promise is an inescapable corollary to confessing and turning from sin. All men are either in rebellion against God or in submission to Him; there is no middle ground, no third option. Saving faith recognizes sin and therefore includes repentance; saving faith recognizes the lordship of Christ and therefore includes submission.
It is true that most people do not understand at the point of salvation all that submission to Christ’s lordship entails. They do not yet have a grasp of Scripture or a complete understanding of the Christian life and all its challenges. But they do know that at salvation they committed themselves to follow Jesus Christ.
In his first epistle, Peter taught that the result of the Father’s sovereign election of believers, and of the Holy Spirit’s regeneration of them, is that they will “obey Jesus Christ”
Unlike some today, the Bible never separates obedience from salvation. In fact, obedience is used as a synonym for salvation in such passages as
Paul described believers as “[God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” So inseparably linked are works to genuine saving faith that James could say, “Just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead” (Jas. 2:26). Good works do not, of course, save us. But they are an inevitable consequence of our salvation.
Going back to 1 Peter 1:2, Peter then described believers as having been “sprinkled with [Christ’s] blood.” This picture is borrowed from the affirmation of the Mosaic covenant in Exodus 24. After hearing the covenant read, the Israelites promised to obey it (v. 7). Moses then sprinkled them with the blood of the sacrifice to seal their part of the covenant (v. 8). When Peter spoke of Christ’s blood being sprinkled on believers (symbolically, not literally), he depicted their part in the covenant of salvation—obedience to God.
A self–disciplined Christian is one who remembers the pledge he made at salvation to obey God. Such a believer then has the integrity to remain true to that commitment.