The Self-Discipline Of The Christian – Pt. 2

In this message we examine the areas in which we need to be disciplined, how to become disciplined, and the dangers to being disciplined.

The Self-Discipline Of The Christian – Pt. 2

1 Corinthians 9:27

Pistol Pete Maravich scored more points than anyone in college basketball history and was the most electrifying player of his time. He became a Christian in his mid-30’s and then died suddenly at the age of 40 from a heart attack. From the time Pete was 5 until he was 17, he played 20,000 hours of basketball. That’s 4.5 hours every single day of his life practicing the game. Pete would walk to and from the 2.5 miles to school, dribbling a basketball the entire way. He would dribble a basketball out the window of a car as his Dad drove at varying speeds. Maravich said, “The key to my ability was repetition. I practiced and practiced and practiced again. I gave the sport my total commitment. I tried everything I could in every way I could to perfect my skills. It was like an obsession. It paid off for me as a player. I’m not sure in life. If I had given that same devotion then to my faith, which is what I do now, I’d have been a better person in the long run.” Pistol Pete was an enormously self-disciplined man when it came to basketball. My question to you is, does godliness mean as much to you as basketball meant to Pete Maravich?

Last Sunday we began teaching series on the Spiritual Disciplines, but I soon realized that I couldn’t jump into a discussion of the spiritual disciplines, without speaking about being self-disciplined. No one will make progress in the spiritual disciplines who is not self-disciplined himself.

The value of self-discipline is enormous! There are many people who have amazing natural talent and ability who will never amount to much, simply because they will not discipline themselves. The flip side is also true. Even someone without much natural ability can accomplish incredible things if he rigorously disciplines himself.

We began last week by asking the question, “What is Self-Discipline.” In short, it is self-mastery. It is training yourself to do what you ought to do, rather than what you want to do. We then asked the question, “Why is Self-Discipline Important?” There are two answers to that question. First, it is commanded by God, and thus we either discipline ourselves or sin against God. Second, it leads to godliness, which is the heart’s desire of every born again child of God. We then asked the question, “Is there a Difference Between Self-Discipline and Holiness?” The answer is a resounding “Yes”! The Army and the Marines can churn out disciplined men, but they can’t produce a single holy man. Only God can create a holy man. Holiness is living to the glory of God. Self-discipline can lead to living for the glory of self.

We’re going to continue asking three more questions this morning about self-discipline.

1. In What Areas Should We Develop Self-Discipline?

At this point I’m not going to talk about our devotional lives before God. We will have much to say about that starting next week. But for right now, I want to take a look at the Proverbs with you and see what areas of life we must discipline.

1) Discipline in Relationships: There are many different passages in Proverbs for each of these 9 areas, but I’m going to limit myself to just a few proverbs for each heading.

Proverbs 6:23-29, “For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; and reproofs for discipline are the way of life to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress. Do not desire her beauty in your heart, nor let her capture you with her eyelids.

For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread, and an adulteress hunts for the precious life. Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Or can a man walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? So is the one who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; whoever touches her will not go unpunished.”

When it comes to your relationships with members of the opposite sex you must be disciplined. Sometimes work or school throws us into close relationships with others. We must discipline ourselves to keep a certain reserve and distance with any member of the opposite sex except for your spouse. You would be wise to make a decision never to meet with a man or woman alone, no matter how harmless the situation appears.

2) Discipline in Work: It is surprising how much the Proverbs have to say about laziness, and the sluggard. I’m just going to pull out three of them.

Proverbs 10:4-5, “Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, But the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully.”

Proverbs 10:26, “Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the lazy one to those who send him.” I’m self-employed, and have to hire employees, and I’ll tell you what – a lazy man won’t last 1 hour working for me. He’s like smoke to the eyes. He’s an irritant.

Proverbs 18:9, “He who is slack in his work is brother to him who destroys.”

We must discipline ourselves to work diligently, or we will have no one to blame but ourselves for the lack we experience in our lives, and we’ll end up hurting others.

3) Discipline in Speech:

Proverbs 10:19,  “When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, But he who restrains his lips is wise.”

Proverbs 13:3, “The one who guards his mouth preserves his life, the one who opens wise his lips comes to ruin.”

Proverbs 15:28, “The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.”

These proverbs teach us that we must discipline ourselves not to just say whatever comes into our heads, but to ponder how to answer before we speak. How many times have we gotten into trouble by speaking before we thought?

4) Discipline in Receiving Correction:  It is truly remarkable how often Solomon wrote of the virtue of being able to receive correction. Only a truly humble person will graciously receive correction.

Proverbs 10:17, “He is on the path of life who heeds instruction, but he who ignores reproof goes astray.”

Proverbs 12:1, “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.”

Proverbs 29:1, “A man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.”

We need to discipline ourselves to humbly receive correction. If we don’t, we are only hurting ourselves.

5) Discipline in Disciplining Our Children:

Proverbs 13:24, “He who withholds his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently.”

Proverbs 22:15, “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of discipline will remove it far from him.”

Proverbs 29:15, “The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother.”

We all know how difficult it is to maintain consistent, loving discipline in our children’s lives. It is so much easier to give in, or not give that needed reproof when we are tired. Thus this takes great self-discipline.

6) Discipline in Controlling Our Temper:

Proverbs 14:29, “He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who is quick-tempered exalts folly.”

Proverbs 19:11, “A man’s discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression.”

Proverbs 20:3, “Keeping away from strife is an honor for a man, but any fool will quarrel.”

Are you quick-tempered? Do you lose your temper easily? If so, you will need to discipline yourself to control your temper.

7) Discipline in Drinking Alcohol:

Proverbs 20:1, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.”

Proverbs 23:29-35, “Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long over wine, those who go to taste mixed wine. Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly; at the last it bites like a serpent and stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things and your mind will utter perverse things. And you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea, or like one who lies down on the top of a mast. “They struck me, but I did not become ill; they beat me, but I did not know it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink.”

The drinking of alcohol is not forbidden in Scripture. However, if you choose to drink alcohol, drink in strict moderation. Make very, very sure that you are in control, and that you stop drinking before you start to feel the effects of the alcohol. Let me give you a few quick statistics about the use of alcohol:

• Alcohol is the number one drug of choice for teenagers.
• Alcohol-related car crashes are the number one killer of teenagers in the United States.
• Alcohol-impaired drivers are involved in 1 out of 3 car crash fatalities.
• Alcohol is the 3^rd most common cause of death in developed countries.
• Alcohol is the number one drug problem in America.
• No one who takes their first drink believes they are going to become an alcoholic.

8) Discipline in Sleep:

Proverbs 20:13, “Do not love sleep, or you will become poor; open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with food.”

Proverbs 26:14, “As the door turns on its hinges, so does the sluggard on his bed.”

How many of you go back to bed after your body has had enough rest, just because you don’t want to get up? Or how many of you lean over and keep hitting the snooze button? What’s the result? You end up running around, stressed out in a frenzy to get to work on time. We’ve got to discipline ourselves in this area as well.

9) Discipline in Eating:

Proverbs 23:20-21, “Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine, or with gluttonous eaters of meat; for the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe one with rags.”

Proverbs 25:16, “Have you found honey? Eat only what you need, that you not have it in excess and vomit it.”

We need to discipline ourselves as to how much we eat, and what we eat. 70% of Americans are overweight, and 36% are obese. That is staggering! American Christians spend more on dieting than on world missions. At any given moment, 25% of American men and 45% of American women are dieting. Americans spend $50 billion on dieting each year! Richard Taylor has written in his book, A Disciplined Life, “Excessive overweight almost always means underproduction in the work of God. When therefore overweight is the result of overeating, we will be held accountable for every surplus pound. Let overwork, or unavoidable exposure, or persecution and martyrdom shorten our lives in the service of the King, and we can die with honor. But if life is shortened by self-indulgence – what then will we say when we stand in the presence of our defrauded Master.”

Now, in addition to these 9 areas, we could add that we need to discipline ourselves in terms of our use of time, and exercise. The truth is, we need to discipline ourselves in practically every area of our lives!

2. How Can We Develop Self-Discipline?

1. Make a Decision. We must make a decision of our wills that we will begin to discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness. That is the first step. Once that decision is made, there is still plenty to be done, but until it is made, there’s nothing else that can be done. Making that decision is really the most difficult part. So, unless you are willing to make a decision this morning that you will begin to discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness, you’ve just wasted a perfectly good morning. Nothing will come of this teaching in your life. So, my question to you is, “Will you make a decision of your will to begin disciplining yourself today?”
2. Ask the Lord what area of your life you should start with. The temptation will be to decide you are going to start disciplining yourself in 10 different areas all at the same time. Don’t do it! It’s just too much. You will fail and give up entirely. My advice is to start small and build slowly. Choose just one or two areas to start. After you have developed a measure of self-discipline in those areas, go on to develop other areas. You might start with disciplining yourself to be on time, or commit to an exercise routine, or to go to sleep and get up at a particular hour, or to make your bed each morning.
3. Pray! Ask God to work in you the desire and the ability to do what He wants for His good pleasure. Breaking bad habits is very difficult. We will need God’s help to change. Bathe this in prayer.
4. Begin to Develop Godly Habit Patterns. Our problem is that when we become Christians we have already developed lots of sinful habit patterns. We have learned to coddle and pamper our bodies. We have given ourselves to fleshly self-indulgence. Those sinful habits must be broken and replaced with godly habits. Don’t expect instant godliness. It took many years to develop those sinful habits, and they aren’t going to be eradicated overnight. The experts tell us it usually takes about 3 weeks to feel comfortable in performing a new practice, and then 3 more weeks to make the practice part of yourself. In order to form new habits, it will take sustained daily effort. No weight lifter says “ I’ve never lifted weights before but that looks like the heaviest weight. I’ll think I’ll lift that one.” Nor does he say, “This week I’ll lift weights for five hours and then I’ll forget about it for next six weeks.” No, he begins with the lightest weights, and he slowly and gradually builds up his strength to where he can lift the heavier ones.
5. Think of yourself as a Spiritual Athlete in Training. Pete Maravich trained hours every single day from the time he was 5 years old. It’s the same with any athlete. Do you think Michael Phelps set world records in swimming the first time he ever competed? Or do you think that Chet Atkins or Earl Scruggs became masters of their instrument after practicing for a few days ? No, it took untold hours of steady, daily practice. You will not become a godly person without daily applying effort to developing godly habit patterns.
6. Apply Luke 9:23, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” Jesus is not talking about denying ourselves something, like giving up meat for Lent. Rather He is insisting that we must deny the self within us – the old desires, ways, practices and habits that we acquired before conversion. These old habit patterns became so much a part of our day to day practice that they became second nature. We were born sinners but it took practice to develop our particular styles of sinning. All this indicates that there is a day by day battle inside the Christian. He must take up the cross, which is an instrument of death, upon which he must crucify the self every day. Taking up the cross means we must put to death the old life patterns of the old man. But it’s not enough to put off sin; we must put on righteousness. It’s not enough to deny ourselves; we must also follow Christ. We must learn to say “no” to self and “yes” to Christ every day until one by one the old sinful habits are replaced by new godly habits.
7. Make decisions based on principle, not on how you feel. You probably didn’t feel like getting up this morning. Maybe you didn’t feel like coming to church today. Many mornings you won’t feel like praying or reading the Scriptures. Your whole day will be filled with decisions that must be made on the basis of obedience to God rather than giving in to fleshly desires. There are really only two ways to live. Either we live according to how we feel, or we live according to what God has said. In the Garden of Eden, God gave a commandment. Adam and Even could either obey God’s Word, or do what they felt like doing. Either we will embrace the feeling-oriented life of sin oriented toward self like Adam and Eve, or we will embrace the obedience-oriented life of holiness oriented toward godliness. Living according to feeling is the greatest hindrance to godliness that we face.
8. Focus on the Superior Pleasure and Power of Christ. Worldly self-discipline and godly self-discipline are very different. Worldly self-discipline glorifies self. Godly self-discipline glorifies Christ, because it points out that the reason I deny self is not because I’ve got it all together, but because He is so much better! Biblical self-control is the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). It is not developed by sheer will-power. No, it is developed as the fruit of the Spirit within you as the Spirit reveals to you how much better Jesus is than living for the flesh.
9. Persevere. The longer you persevere in a godly habit, the easier it is to deny the lusts of the flesh. For example, do you remember when you were first learning how to drive? You thought, “I have to steer, and press the accelerator, and brake, and shift gears all at the right time. On top of that I have to be able to read this complicated instrument panel, check my GPS for directions, make sure I’m looking out for pedestrians or cars backing out of their driveway.” However, now that you’ve been driving for years, you can do all of those things without hardly having to think about it. You’ve learned to do highly complex behavior unconsciously. That’s exactly what Pete Maravich or Michael Phelps or Chet Atkins has done as well. They trained themselves over and over to the point where difficult things became easy. So, let’s apply this to punctuality. If you have developed the bad habit of being late, the first time you apply yourself to being on time, it will require a lot of effort. However, if you persevere with this same discipline, eventually it will become so much a part of you, that you can be on time almost effortlessly. To persevere in something means that we will finish what we start. Many Christians are great at starting something, but they never seem to finish anything. They start to read a book, but never finish it. They volunteer for a ministry, but then quit. They start a devotional life, but then give up when things get hard.
10. Embrace change. Don’t fear change. The Christian life is a life of continual change. That’s what sanctification is all about – the Holy Spirit is changing you into the image of Christ. Too many Christians want to be godly without the daily struggle that leads to change, and then they give up before those godly habit patterns are formed.
11. Tackle the hard tasks first. Many people put off doing something because they don’t want to have to face it. Instead, they give their time to the easier, more enjoyable tasks. As a result, they end up procrastinating endlessly, and that task never gets finished. Instead, if you have a difficult task, tackle it head on right at the beginning of your day.
12. When you fail, begin again. Notice I said, when you fail. We will all fail. But when you fail in an area, what will you do? Refuse to just give up, and say “Forget it! I just can’t do it. I can’t discipline myself in that area.” Instead, bring your failure before the Lord, confess it to Him, ask Him to forgive and strengthen you to begin again. Proverbs 24:16 says, “For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, but the wicked stumble in time of calamity.” 

3.  What Are The Dangers To Developing Self-Discipline?

1. Idolatry: It is easy to begin to think that self-discipline is the supreme value of life. It’s not. God is the supreme value of life! The supreme place of honor is not our discipline, but Christ! Discipline is a wonderful servant, but a horrible savior. The importance of discipline is its ability to bring us to God again and again. However, discipline is just a means to an end; it is not an end in itself. God is the ultimate end of all things. Beware of making an idol out of self-discipline.
2. Pride: Once you begin to develop self-discipline, you will be tempted to feel superior to others, and look down your nose at them. Beware of giving yourself the glory instead of God. If you do, you will become like the Pharisee who said, “God I thank You that I am not like other people.”
3. Inflexibility: We need to be prepared for God to interrupt our schedule at any time. Remember that the goal of life is to love God and people. You may have decided on a particular day that you are going to accomplish ten different tasks, and instead you discover that God had something else entirely for you to do. We need to remain flexible enough to go with the flow. Someone once said, “Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.” The train that is built to carry people shouldn’t run them over. Self-discipline is meant to enable you to love people; not run them over.

In April, 1941 Fritz Kreisler, a world-famous violinist, was forced by an accident to lay aside his violin for many weeks. When he finally picked up his instrument once again, his fingers were so stiff that playing seemed impossible. “But my desire was so intense,” he reported later, “and I told myself: These are my fingers. These are my slaves. I am the general. I order them to play and I will them to action. And you know what? They played!” In a similar vein, the apostle Paul said, “I discipline my body, and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” Will you decide today to begin to discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness? Let’s pray.

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