PRACTICAL STEPS to DISCIPLINE and SELF-CONTROLSample

ITS ALREADY IN YOU

Have you ever felt frustrated by your inability to get a grip or move forward? Maybe you have a dream of something you want to accomplish, but you’ve hit a wall – you feel mired in procrastination or lack of motivation. Maybe you want to lose weight or get in shape, but you can’t seem to develop a habit of eating right or exercising, and never seem to make headway.

Maybe your head is full of “coulda, woulda, shoulda” thoughts, but you just can’t seem to get over the hump to do what you really want to do – what you know the Holy Spirit is nudging you to do. You’re just not where you want to be, and you feel lazy, uninspired and guilty.

There are plenty of areas in our lives where we might want be more disciplined, self-controlled and productive. Here are some examples where we might have said, “I wish I was more disciplined in…”

·Exercising and eating right

·Taking steps toward the dream

·Cleaning the house…decluttering (attacking the junk room, keeping the office or kids room clean, organizing the closet, whatever!)

·Spending money

·Sleep/Rest

·Staying in touch with family or friends

·Spending daily time with God

·Promptly obeying God’s direction, not hesitating…

If you’ve ever had any of those thoughts, I have some good news. The discipline and self-control you need to reach these goals is already inside you!

When you said yes to Jesus – when you got born again and became a new creature in Christ (2 Cor 5:17) – the Holy Spirit came to make His home in you (John 14:16-17) and He brought along every fruit (every characteristic) of His being. The Bible calls those characteristics the Fruit of the Spirit.

One of those fruits is self-control…and it’s in you. I want you think about that. It’s not something you’re trying to get – it’s something you already have. That’s a whole different mindset than “I need to get more disciplined, more self-control.” The Bible says you already have it. The Fruit of the Spirit and the Greater One are in you (1 John 4:4) – you can get a grip!

But even knowing that, you might be thinking, “Uh huh, sure. But there’s no sign of it in my life! How do I start to act more disciplined and self-controlled?” The answer is: you have to learn to yield to it.