Charles Stanley - Discipline Determines Destiny (03/05/2017)
Dr. Stanley stresses that while we all desire to live our best and fulfill God's purpose, it's discipline—not mere desire—that determines our earthly destiny. Using 1 Corinthians 9, he shows how Paul compared the Christian life to a race requiring self-control, so we run purposefully to win imperishable rewards rather than be disqualified.
Understanding the Key Principle: Discipline Determines Destiny
As followers of Jesus Christ, it's only right that you and I would want to look our best, do our best, be our best, and fulfill His purpose for our life. Reach the goals that He would have for us. But that's not always easy. Because there are always things out there to hinder us if we allow them. But as you think about your life, it's not easy either when you look at it. And God has a purpose and a plan for our life. It's the best plan possible. And people who are willing to walk in that plan always come out better. But as we said, it's not easy. It demands something of us. It demands discipline.
Now, I want you to think about this. It is discipline, not desire, that determines your destiny. Discipline, not desire, that determines your destiny. And if you'll look around, it's pretty evident that many people are not living a disciplined life. Look at the hospitals, for example. Running over with people who are sick for all different kinds of reasons. Oftentimes because they've had no discipline in their body activities. Look at the prisons, for example. They too are overflowing because somewhere along the way they didn't learn to live by the rules and to live a disciplined life.
Look at the indebtedness we have today. It's the same story. People spend their money recklessly, foolishly, without discipline whatsoever. Look at how many high school students drop out before they finish. Lack of discipline. We could go on and on and on in our society. And so, discipline is not something we like. That is, the truth is, we don't really like somebody telling us what we can do and what we cannot do, what we should do and should not do. We like to be free. We boast of the fact that we live in a free country and we're free people. But we're not free from the laws of God.
Why Discipline Feels Uncomfortable Yet Essential
And for a person who does not like any kind of discipline, they set their course for disaster ultimately in their life. And so, what I want us to talk about in this message is simply this. That discipline, listen, determines destiny. Let me settle one thing right up front. I'm not talking about your eternal destiny, which was settled the day you trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. You trusted Him as the atoning death for all your sins. We're not talking about that. You're saved. You're going to heaven.
But I'm talking about life here and now. And that is, life here and now is a life that demands discipline of us. If we're to fulfill God's purpose, do the things that He would have us to do, achieve the goals that He set for all of our lives. So, the issue is this. Where does discipline fit in your life? Because discipline does determine your destiny. Not your desires. You can desire many things and miss it all. But discipline determines your destiny.
So, I want you to turn, if you will, to First Corinthians, Chapter 9. And in this passage, the Apostle Paul is referring to the Greek games and their participants and the necessity of discipline in running those games. And he begins in this 23rd verse by saying, "I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it". Do you not know that those who run in a race, all of them run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
That is, in your Christian life. It's a race. And I think that's a race in two ways. It's a race, biblically, as we're talking about here. And then we talk about life being a rat race. It's fast. He says, "Run in such a way that you may win." Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control, discipline, in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
Paul's Sports Analogy: Running to Win the Imperishable Prize
Therefore, I run in such a way as not without aim. I box in such a way as not beating the air. But I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. And Paul is simply taking a sports illustration here to say, "In order to run a race and run it well, I have to discipline myself." He says, "I'm not running without aim. I'm not running just to be running aimlessly. I'm running with a goal in mind. And my goal is to win."
And the truth is that every single believer should run the same way. Live our life, listen, to win. To win what? To win, listen, to win all that God has laid out before us, all the things that He's promised to bless us with. God is there willing and ready to bless us in every single area of our life if we'll simply walk obediently before Him. And that requires discipline. Not easy. It's required, but it works.
When a person lives a disciplined life, you're going to be able to look your best, do your best, be your best, and reach the goals that God has set for you. We look for an easy way. It's not easy. It's not easy if you're a Christian. It's not easy if you're not a Christian. It's just a whole lot better when you know Jesus Christ is your Savior. And you know you have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of you to enable you to reach those goals, whatever they may be.
Applying Discipline to Personal Christian Growth
So in thinking about that, what I'd like for us to do is I'd like for us to consider this whole issue of discipline in our personal life. And I want to give you a number of things that I want to encourage you to jot down. We'll put them on the mag screens. There's lots of it. Because if I don't put them up there, you'll not get them down by trying to remember what I'm saying. And it's so very important. That's why I'm placing this many notes on the screen so you can write them down.
If you're a parent, you need to get them down for your children. If you're a student, you need to get them down for yourself. If you're a grandparent, you need to get them down for your family. But I want to encourage you to take it seriously. Because listen, your discipline or lack of it is going to determine your destiny, what you do, what you achieve, what you accomplish, where you go, how you get there in this life, whether it's good, bad, or indifferent, or whether you fail in your life.
So what I'd like to do, I'd like to clarify a couple of terms. And let's begin with those terms. And first of all, let's look at self-discipline. Self-discipline, listen, is personal training that develops self-control and character and results in an orderly and efficient life. Self-discipline, personal training that develops self-control and character and results in an orderly and efficient life. So that demands something of us.
Self-Discipline vs. Divine Discipline
As somebody says, well now, what about what the Bible says about discipline? So, I'll give you a second or two to write that down. And then turn to Hebrews, chapter 12. And we oftentimes think about God's discipline and what He's up to in our life. And so, there's another kind of discipline, and that is, there's divine discipline. And divine discipline is simply this. This is God's corrective measures in our life. We step out of His will, fail to do what He has us to do.
Listen to what He says in His twelfth chapter. My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved of Him. So, for example, when you and I disobey God, He does discipline us. That is, He wants to get us back in line doing what He would have us to do to accomplish what He would have us to accomplish in life.
Self-discipline is something we do. In other words, God does not practice self-discipline on us. He practices divine discipline. It is up to us to practice self-discipline. That is, to be in control of our lives through the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our life in order to be the persons He would have us to be.
Enemies to Discipline: The Flesh, World, and Devil
And so, discipline is a practice. You don't suddenly know how to discipline. You learn discipline. We practice because we're not perfect. And the fact that we practice it means that we'll make mistakes. We'll falter and fall at times, but we don't give up and we don't quit and we move on.
The second thing I want us to notice here is the necessity of self-discipline when it comes to living a Christian life. And if you'll look in 1 Peter for a moment, and I want you to notice a couple of verses here. In this first chapter, look, if you will, in the, let's start with verse 15, and listen to what he says. He says, So, it is the will of God that you and I live a godly life. And living a godly life demands discipline of us.
And in 1 Timothy, 1 Timothy chapter 4, I want you to notice a verse here. Look, if you will, in verse 7. He says, But have nothing to do with the worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourselves for the purpose of godliness. For bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the one to come.
So, he says, If we're going to live a godly life, you're going to be an obedient person. You're going to live a Christian life, it demands discipline. Which means I have to make choices in life. I have to make choices to make the right thing, the best thing, the right time, the best time in life.
Areas Where Discipline Makes the Biggest Difference
And so, as you think about that in your life, and if I were to ask you today, in what area of your life can you say, I am really disciplined in this life? Do you go to bed every night at 10 o'clock? Do you watch the news every night? Or do you stay up until about midnight? In other words, do you eat three meals a day? In other words, what are you disciplined about? Or would you say, "Well, I never thought that I had to be disciplined about anything."
Well, think about it. No, you don't have to. And I can tell you what the results will be in a moment. But let's think about it this way. When you trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, He came into your life through the Holy Spirit to live in you and to abide in you and to enable you to become everything He requires of you, achieve everything He wants you to achieve in life.
But we have three enemies. One of them we know is the devil. One we know is the world and system around us. And the third one we know, we call it different things. Paul, on the one hand, called it the flesh or our carnal nature or our naturalness. And our naturalness is a good word for it, which means there are desires within every single one of us that do not fit the will and purpose and plan of God for our life.
Controlling Natural Desires: Food, Rest, Companionship, Sex
We come into this world with that bent away from that. And so, our naturalness is what we have to bring under discipline, get under control. He gave us the Holy Spirit to enable us. Now, when we talk about carnality or flesh or our naturalness, what are we talking about? Talking about those, listen, those legitimate desires that God has placed in our life that we have to bring under control.
Just because we have the Holy Spirit doesn't mean we're going to be perfect. Just because we're saved doesn't mean we're going to live apart from all sin. We have to learn to live the Christian life. All of us have stumbled and fallen, made mistakes in areas of our life. And so, what happens? God forgives. He teaches us. We move on. And we keep growing as a Christian.
You see, if when a believer is not growing, it's because they're not being disciplined in one or more areas of their life. And I can give you one simple example. One area of discipline is to read the Word of God every day. Most anybody could do that if they chose to. If they recognized how very important it is.
Now watch this. Whatever, listen, whatever you discipline your life about will determine the value you place on it. You don't place much value on a particular goal, you won't work hard at it, you won't discipline yourself.
Consequences of Lacking Discipline in Daily Life
For example, if you were going to buy a new automobile or dishwasher, whatever it might be, and you said, "That's my goal." Then when you started thinking about going to the shopping centers, you'd think, "Wait a minute now. I need this car. I'm not even going to be able to get to the shopping center." And so, you have to set a value on something.
For example, if I ask you, "Well, how many of you would like to live a long life"? What, the rest of you want to die? In other words, how many of you want to live a long life? Secondly, now you got me. How many of you want to live a healthy long life, right? Absolutely.
Now, let me ask you this. Is that a goal in your life? Man, it's quiet. Is that a goal in your life? Would you say that you're living the kind of life that'll make it possible for you to live a long, healthy life? Whew! It's getting pretty bad.
All right, let's look at this. Let me just name four natural desires. One of them is food. If I'm undisciplined... You can preach the rest of this sermon, couldn't you? If you are undisciplined in what you eat, you're going to suffer the consequences.
Another, for example, is rest. If you're undisciplined in that, you're going to get lethargic and lazy and slothful. Another one, for example, is companionship. If you're undisciplined about that, you'll become dependent, or someone will become dependent upon you. And that's no good relationship. And there is sex. And sex within marriage and the way God has provided is good. When you break out of that and become undisciplined, what happens? It's like poisoning your system and ultimately will destroy you.
So, all of those are good things, but they must be controlled by us. In other words, God isn't going to control how much you eat. He's going to allow you. He will give you wisdom. He'll give you direction. He'll give you challenges in life. He may let you get sick to show you, whatever it might be. But you and I are the ones who must practice discipline.
What Happens When We Fail to Practice Discipline
So, in all these areas, God has given us many, many good things, but we have to practice discipline. Because you remember when you were a kid, if you could just eat all the candy you wanted to? And I can remember, my mother knew that I liked chocolate cherries. And so, she brought me a box of chocolate cherries home one afternoon from work. I'll never forget this. And she said, "Well, you just like them, don't you?" I said, "Yes, ma'am." And I thanked her for them. And I ate chocolate cherries till I was sick as a dog. I don't know that I've eaten them ever since.
There was nothing wrong with chocolate cherries. But I was totally undisciplined. I just wanted 'em, wanted 'em, wanted 'em and wanted 'em. Well, I got 'em. There are many things in life that people want, that there's nothing wrong with it, except the fact that too much of some things will kill you. Just a little bit of some things will kill you.
And so, discipline is a vital part of the Christian's life. It's a vital part of anybody's life who wants to accomplish anything in life. So, with that in mind, I want us to think about, first of all, I want us to think about what we can expect when we fail to practice discipline.
And I have a number of things I want to put on the back screen in a moment, but I want us to think about what you can expect if you don't practice discipline. So, let's begin. You're going to follow your fleshly, carnal naturalness. You're going to follow that, and you're going to step outside the will of God, and you're going to suffer the consequences.
No discipline? Listen, look around at all the things that tempt and try us. All the things that would bring us down. All the things that are so absolutely ungodly. They're everywhere. No discipline, you're going down.
Defending Wrong Choices and Facing Practical Fallout
Secondly, usually, when a person is undisciplined, they defend what they're doing. And so, we will begin to defend our wrong actions and so forth. And then, of course, one of the effects of it is not only our health, but think about finances. Think about people who are undisciplined in their finances. If you don't control your money, and see, the credit card people love the undisciplined folks, because they've got your interests. Before long, they've got your life.
If a person doesn't learn discipline... and this is why, and I've said it many times, this is why a person has to learn to count to ten. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Anybody can do that. And the Scripture says that one out of every ten belongs to Him. If I practice that, if I am disciplined in my finances, then I'm going to be blessed.
If I'm not disciplined, if I don't count right, if I don't understand that I just can't spend all I want on anything and everything I want, and realize there are limitations. And oftentimes today, children are growing up, and their parents give them a credit card. Total disaster. They don't have to work for it. They don't even have to hardly give an account for it.
They all got telephones, they all got TVs, they all got computers, they all got all this, all these things. Where is the discipline? How much of that should you have? And how much time should you spend in it? Discipline begins very early in life, and that's why godly parents, godly parents are parents who are looking out... listen, not only for how their children look and how they do in school, where they can be proud of them, they're looking out for their adulthood.
Building Discipline: Requirements and Practical Steps
Is their life going to count? What difference is it going to make that you brought that son or that daughter into the world? Before the child is born, those parents ought to have wisdom enough to say, "Now, if we're going to have a child, what's our responsibility? What disciplines do we demand of ourselves to be the kind of parents we ought to be, so when they grow up, they'll be like us, and we'll be grateful for them to be so?"
We fail many, many times in many ways simply by lack of discipline. Of course, there's going to be a poor performance on your job. If you're not disciplined in your work, whatever that work may be, you are going to suffer the consequences of it. Many people do not have a job because they don't perform. There's no discipline. They don't arrive on time. They don't do a good job. They don't expend their energy giving their all to the work to which they've been called.
And then, of course, they're oftentimes overlooked. When jobs come along, they pass them by. Why? Because their record shows they didn't show up on time. They had to be questioned about a number of things. Sometimes it was maybe they're honest. Yeah, whatever it might be. Discipline fits you for the next opportunity. Discipline is God's way of getting us ready to move along in life and to move ahead in life.
And, of course, a person who is undisciplined is going to develop slothful habits. And a slothful person, for example, is not going to do very well. This is why children need to be trained very early in life. In their room, you make up your bed. You hang up your clothes. Whatever it might be. A little bit of discipline goes a long ways, but you have to start somewhere.
And if you do not start somewhere, what happens is you just... you go through life aimlessly. A little bit of this and a little bit of that. A little bit of this and a little bit of that. And you see, if you're not goal-oriented, then why are you working? You say, "I'm working to make enough money." Enough money to do what? Well, to do the things I want to do. And then after you've done those, what?
God gives us goals that demand something of us. And part of that demand is to discipline ourselves so that we give Him our full, our best. Look your best, do your best, be your best. Fulfill the purpose and plan of God for your life. Not easy, demands discipline, but at the same time, something good is happening to you while that's going on.
Avoiding Recklessness, Lateness, and Wasted Time
I think about, for example, when a person's undisciplined, they leave work for other people. If you work on a job, for example, where there are a couple of people there who are sort of sloppy and they just do it part of the way, you come along and you have to take up a part of their work so that you all don't get in trouble.
In a family, for example, if they're children, you've got three or four children, all of them have a job, so two of them, they decide, "Well, I don't think I want to do that." Somebody else has to do it. And probably a mother understands what happens when there's no discipline at home as much as anybody does. If everybody does their job, mom doesn't have quite as much to do.
If you've got children who are sloppy and who are negligent, they're probably that way because you allowed it, excuse me, you allowed it, and having allowed it, now you have things to do you shouldn't have to be doing. Discipline is very, very, very important. Because look, if I'm undisciplined about my household, more than likely I'm undisciplined about something about my life.
In other words, you're just not gonna be just wonderfully disciplined over here and sloppy over there. Just not gonna be that way. But, we are probably all more disciplined in some areas than we are in others, but many areas demand it. If you're going to live a godly life, discipline is a vital part of that.
Then, of course, I think sometimes a person who is undisciplined is reckless in their speech. They say things that they wish they had not said. They say things that are true that should not have been said at that moment. Or they say things that are true that should not have been said to that particular person. We have to be careful the lips, the tongue, what we say in such a fashion that should to either build up someone else, but never to tear them down.
Then, of course, the person who's always late. A person who's always late, what it says is, "I don't respect your time." And discipline. Sometimes it's difficult to always be on time. Nobody's probably always on time. But it says something about us.
And then, of course, a person is going to waste time and energy when they're undisciplined. Because, you see, we said in the very beginning, self-discipline talks about self-control and orderliness. That is, if I work by schedule, it would be interesting to know, for example, how many of you have a schedule every day? And do you live by the schedule? What do you try to accomplish every day?
Practical Tools: Schedules, Lists, and Saying No
And I learned a long time ago, if I'm going to be... if I'm going to accomplish anything, before I go to bed at night, I need to make a list of all the things that I intend to do the next day. And it's real simple. You put it on a three-by-five card. And when you get them done, you check them off. At the end of the day, what you couldn't check off, you put it on the next day.
It's a simple thing I learned many, many, many, many years ago, very early in life, because I had many responsibilities. And I thought, well, how am I going to get it all done? You only get it done if you program it into your life and work at it diligently. And you have to discipline yourself.
If you have certain things that have to be done, here's what that means there's certain other things I cannot do. And so, when a person just sort of lives aimlessly, well, do this and do that, and get whatever done I can, and not fret about it, where are you headed in life? What do you want to accomplish? What kind of trail are you leaving? What kind of influence? What kind of impact?
There are many people in life who don't have what they'd like to have because they're not disciplined enough to remove the things out of their life that drain their energy, their strength, their finances, their time. Discipline is absolutely essential if you're going to succeed at anything in life.
And then, of course, Paul talked about here, he said, "Lest he become a castaway," and what he was saying is this, "He was going to live a godly life lest, after all he may have done, his witness, his testimony may have put him on the shelf."
And we all have to remember this. There are things in life that do not fit a Christian. You say, "Oh, now that's getting legalistic." No, that's getting biblical. There's some things that do not... that should not exist in the life of a believer. And so, if that's one of those things, I don't have to name anything. You know, if there's something in your life that shouldn't be there, you know what it is.
You have to decide. God is not going to make you do it. You have to decide, "Do I value my Christian testimony enough? Do I value my relationship to God enough? Do I value the goals and the principles and the things that I want to accomplish enough to eliminate the stuff in my life that's going to keep me from getting there?"
You cannot have it. You can't have everything. You can't be everything and all things to all people. You have to decide, "Who is it you want to be? What is it that God wants in your life? What's His desire? What's His plan? What does He have in store for you?"
It is costly not to live a disciplined life. It can cost you in many ways. We just mentioned body and finances and things like that. Many, many things you have to pay the price for if there's no discipline.
Requirements for a Disciplined Life: Purpose, Detachment, Diligence
Now, with that in mind, I want us to think about something else, and that's one of the requirements for living a disciplined life. As we said, it's not easy. It's not easy for anybody. If you want to live a godly life, if you want to live a disciplined life, it's not easy. And nowhere in the Bible. In fact, Paul talks about running, and he talks about one winning, and that means others lose.
And so, in your life, if you began to live a disciplined life, what area of your life would you first choose? Would it be what time you get up in the morning? Would it be something about your relationship to the Lord? Would it be your finances? Would it be your relationships to each other?
You see, if you live a disciplined life, you may have to say no to some folks who'd like to be your friends. Because, you see, the Bible says and warns us about having the wrong kind of relationships. Wrong kind of friends who'll drag us down. So, you have to ask yourself the question, "Where do my values lie? What matters most, that I live a godly life, walk the ways of the Lord, accomplish His purpose and plan of my life, or do I want a lot of accolades and a lot of achievements and a lot of this and a lot of that and a lot of that?"
Where's God in all of that? So, what are the requirements? And I would simply say this. First of all, you've got to have a definite purpose and a definite goal. If you have no definite goal, you won't accomplish much in life. If you don't have a definite purpose... now, by the way, I ask you, what is your purpose today for living? What's your purpose?
You say, "Well, I just want to enjoy life." Well, what else? Well, I want to have enough. How much is enough? Well, I'm not sure. And we can ask you a lot of questions, but the issue is this. What are you living for? What is your purpose for being alive and staying alive? You want to live a long time? You want to be healthier? For what reason?
Do you have anything that's so demanding of you that it takes discipline to accomplish it? Name me something that is of great value, that it does not demand and require discipline in order to achieve it. That's the way God made us. He wants us to grow. He wants us... he says, "He predestined you and me to be conformed to the likeness of His Son."
Think about this. Jesus was absolutely perfect. Did He have His enemies? Lots of them. Was the devil His enemy? Yes. Did he have a carnal nature? No, he did not. But he had lots of enemies. He lived a disciplined life. He said, "I must go through Samaria." Must go. He made a decision. That meant he wasn't going somewhere else.
And when you read the Gospels and the way Jesus spent His life, He didn't spend it. He invested it. And believe me, He was a very disciplined person. The same thing would be true of the Apostle Paul. You and I know disciplined people. Disciplined people are encouragement to us.
But you've got to have a goal. And then remember this. When you decide what your goals may be, or your objectives, and this may be a temporary goal or something you can accomplish in a short period of time, or a long period of time, or a lifetime. Listen, you have to become attached to what that goal is. At the same time, you have to become detached to all those things that draw you away.
And you see, one of the reasons people don't reach any goals is because they can't detach. They can't detach from things that have an appeal. It could be a monetary appeal, or whatever it might be. But you have to lay some things down if you're going to accomplish them.
And then, you have to pursue it with diligence. And for example, somebody says, "I'm going on a diet." Listen, if we understood what real, true discipline was all about, and people practice it, you wouldn't have 49 different programs on the television every week how to lose weight. And every single one of them says the same thing, the secret. How many secrets are that losing weight?
I can tell you what the secret is. Just walk away. That's what the secret is. And that doesn't cost you anything. It doesn't cost you anything. But, it goes back to the whole issue. How much value do I place on losing weight? If I place enough value on it, I'll walk away. I'll discipline myself.
But if I say, "Well, I think I'm going to." And so, you exercise, let's say, for example, you exercise for a week, and I mean, you're just doing fantastic. And you wake up in the morning and say, "Oh, I don't think I want to do that today." Mmm. And next thing you know, you're also working on your diet, and somebody says, "Let's go to lunch." Man, I want one of them big burgers. I can hardly wait.
You know what? Diligence says, "I may want to." Remember what we said in the beginning? It's, listen, discipline, not desire, determines our destiny. And I may want to do a lot of right things, but if I'm not willing to be disciplined, it's not going to happen.
Consistency, Self-Control, and Relying on the Holy Spirit
And so, you've got to pursue it with diligence, and you've got to be consistent. You can't do it one day and forget the other. And I think probably, and I'm not, I'm not really harping on diet necessarily, I don't have that in mind, except to say it's a good example. It's easy to start, but are you going to be consistent? Are you going to be diligent? Are you going to really work at it? And are you going to practice self-control?
Now, you say, "Well, that's what, isn't that what discipline's all about?" Right. The reason I said practice, because that's what it is. You won't, you won't succeed the first time. There are times you're going to fail, but here's the issue. Just because, watch this. Just because I failed today doesn't mean I'm a failure. It means I start tomorrow, but I'm not going to quit starting. I'm going to have to start again and again and again and again.
And so, you have to decide what is the value of this thing that you want to get under control in your life. You want to get your finances under control? Well, how much... to what degree do you want to get them under control? How much real value do you place on that? Will it get you out of debt? You can sleep better at night. You won't be worried about them calling you over and over.
In other words, there are lots and lots of things you can say. The value I place on controlling my finances is I will feel free. Because the Bible says, you know, the borrower is a slave to the lender. And we have a whole nation of slaves, people who are financially enslaved because they did not practice discipline.
And we say, well, where do you start? You start today. You say, well, I'm thinking about starting. You'll never get it that way. You make a decision. You say, today, on this day, I'm starting. I'm going to practice discipline in the way I handle my money. Otherwise, you get deeper and deeper in debt.
And the lack of that causes problem after problem after problem. And causes people to do things, say things, things happen in their life that never would have happened if they hadn't gotten themselves there.
Is it difficult to practice discipline? Yes, it is. I've said that over and over again. But what's the value you place on the thing you want to be disciplined about? And then you have to just say no in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Now, watch this. You say, well, it is very difficult. I know it is. But watch this. He says He sent the Holy Spirit to live within us. He called Him the Helper that He would enable us to do anything and everything God would call us to do or achieve the goals that God would have us to achieve.
So, we have a Helper. So, that means we have within us one who will empower us to look at a situation and say no when we need to say no. I think about parents who can't say no to their children because they themselves are so undisciplined. In other words, they can't stand the rejection of their children.
So, they say, well, okay. And they allow them to go to parties where there's drinking. They allow them to dress in ways they should not dress as young people. And all the things that go on because they're so undisciplined themselves, what do they do? They just pass that lack of discipline on to their children.
Then when their kids really mess up, they want to blame them. Because the parents are too lazy themselves to make a decision, so afraid they're going to suffer rejection by their kids. They don't have the courage to discipline their children. Forget it.
Listen, I go back to what I said. What value do you place on that child? Is that child a valuable person to you? Going to grow up, be an adult one of these days? The value you place on the child, the discipline you will... listen, remember what we said. We're not talking about spanking them. We're talking about teaching them self-control.
It's only going to learn... it's only going to happen in a family where mom and dad practice self-control. So, you have to ask yourself the question, "What are the requirements?" And there they are.
Rewards of a Disciplined Life: Order, Peace, and Growth
Then, thank the Lord there are rewards. Many, many rewards for discipline. Remember, we're talking about controlling ourselves in the power of the Holy Spirit, which builds character in our life and enables us to live a life that is fulfilling and which we achieve and which is orderly.
And so then, what about the rewards? Well, I'd just say, first of all, look on the screen. The reward, number one, is a lifestyle that is more orderly and less stressful. And I hear people oftentimes say, "You know, my stress is getting me down." And it would be interesting to note, if we could trace it, how much depression can be traced back to lack of discipline that creates this... because of disorder, no orderliness in their life, lots of confusion, nothing's under control, just aimlessly living their life...
Listen, you live an aimless life, you gonna get depressed. There's lots of things that make you depressed. God doesn't want His children being depressed. He wants us living a godly, orderly life, and there's gonna be peace, there's gonna be confidence, there's gonna be happiness, there's gonna be a joy in a person's life, and you're gonna feel good about yourself.
People who don't feel good about themselves. There's something going on on the inside. And lots of times it's confusion. There's no order about their life. And what they see is get up tomorrow morning, go to work, get by, get paid on Friday, start all over again on Monday, get paid on Friday, start all over again on Monday, get paid on Friday, start on Monday.
In other words, that's not life, that's existence. Discipline says I need some goals, something that will require something of me, something that demands something of me that I have to stretch, that I have to work at it. I have to go after it and be diligent about it.
If I don't, life's going to be aimless. And I think there are many, many people who are really gifted, who have talents and skills and abilities in their life, but they're aimless because they never stop to think that God has a plan for your life, number one.
And secondly, you can achieve, listen, you can be disciplined, you can prove yourself, you can be the person God wants you to be, but you have to make a choice. And that choice demands discipline. I can't do this, and I can't go there. And this doesn't fit who I am, but all of these fantastic things that God has set before me.
If I will follow Him, this is what I'll be able to achieve in life. But it demands discipline. Self-control by the power of the Holy Spirit. I cannot say it strongly enough. I know it works. I know it works in children. I know it works in adults. I know it works in all kinds of goals that people set for their life.
But the problem is, what am I going to have to give up? For example, if I just decided that, yeah, I want to preach on Sunday, but I just want to study on Saturday night, just maybe a couple of hours. Well, you wouldn't come in here but one Sunday.
In other words, discipline, you will feel better about yourself. You'll be happier. You'll feel a sense of accomplishment and achievement in life. And all the time this is going on, you know what's going to be happening? You're going to be growing in your Christian life. You're going to be growing in your relationship to Christ. You're going to be growing in your walk with God.
And living a... listen, the more disciplined you are in other things, the more you understand and recognize the importance of. It means I say no to this and yes to that. And that disciplined life is going to affect every single aspect of your life, if you will allow it.
Impact on Others and Eternal Perspective
Now, remember this. All of us are where we are because of what we've been thinking. Now, our parents may have put some things in our thinking, or somebody else, or God, whatever it might be. But we're all where we are today because the way we've been thinking.
You say, "Yeah, but I had a bad time." Well, we've all had little bad times. Well, and we can always make excuses, but look, if you lay excuses down and accept the fact that discipline is a godly way to live your life, it's the best way to live your life, the most productive way to live your life, the happiest, the most peaceful, the most contenting, and the most joyful way to live your life, then is that what you want? Is that not what you want?
It's a choice. It has nothing to do with age, has nothing to do with talents and skills and abilities, because some people have this skill, this ability, that talent, whatever it might be. It's where God has called you, what He wants you to do, what He has in mind for you. And I can tell you, He has the best in mind. But you and I have to practice discipline.
So, you're going to be more productive, for example, and it's going to contribute to your good health. A person who's disciplined, usually, that affects their rest. It affects what they eat. It affects their relationships. It affects everything in their life.
Then, of course, it's going to make a positive impact on others. When you meet somebody who's very disciplined... now, I don't mean they're so legalistic, they don't even know how to have fun, and that's not what we're talking about... but a person who is disciplined, there's something contagious about that.
Because you see them accomplishing things. You see them going somewhere. You see them having a sense of direction. It's contagious. And what you certainly want to happen in your... among your children, your grandchildren, you want them to see in you those qualities that will help them become the persons God wants them to be.
And the truth is, all of us should want our children to do better than we do. Well, how are they going to do better? Only by seeing... and listen, it isn't how perfect a parent is, believe me. That's not it. It's seeing us work at it. We may fail about many, many things, but seeing us work at it, and seeing that we don't give up, and that we don't quit, and that we're diligent, and we're persistent.
And no matter what happens, if we fall down, we get up. If we get knocked down, we get back up. We don't quit. That builds within a child a sense of determination, and builds within them a sense of accomplishment.
Well, if my dad did it, if my mother did it, whatever it might be, I can do it. My mother left me a lot of great, great, great qualities that I wish I could live up to. She didn't drill it into my head. She lived it in front of me. And orderliness, and self-control, and diligence, and persistence, and all those things.
And you see, here's how it helped me. When I saw the way she operated, then I got my first job as taking newspapers, and the second group I had, I had to get up and take them every morning, get up at 5:30. I'd take them again that afternoon, and spent Friday and Saturday collecting.
So, I didn't have any time to date much. I couldn't play sports, couldn't do any of that. But she taught me diligence. And then I got the paper route, that taught me diligence, and taught me determination, and taught me to be disciplined.
Because I woke up many mornings, and I didn't want to get up. I woke up mornings when the snow was up to right here in Virginia at that time. I woke up when it was pouring down rain, I didn't want to get out and do that. Then I had to come home, get dressed, and go to school all day long, come home, run the same route again.
Again, I know something about diligence and determination and discipline, I had to. And I thank God for it. I thank God that my mother didn't have enough money to just give me anything I wanted. Worst thing you can do to children, give them anything they want.
When my kids came along, they thought that I was a little tough on them, but it worked. And that's what matters, it worked. If you've heard Andy preach, you know it worked at least a little bit. Anyway.
One of the good things that happens is it opens doors of opportunity. If you were going to hire somebody, if you were going to hire somebody, would you hire somebody who came in and said, "Well, I've been sort of looking for something to do. I don't know. If you've got a job, I'll take it."
If somebody came in and said, "I'm looking for a job. I've got some goals for my life. I want to do my best. I promise you I'll be honest. You can count on me to do a good job." Which one are you going to hire? You know which one it would be.
Well, then we should be an example of all that. Then, of course, it's going to enable you to reach your goals in life. A person who is disciplined, they will be diligent and persistent and consistent and determined no matter what.
The Holy Spirit will actively enable you to accomplish what you're trying to accomplish because that's His will for you. You can't lose. I remember the first paper that I had, they had a contest for all the paper boys. And in those days, we had to walk. Just riding bicycles, we didn't do that. And this thing of driving an automobile and throwing it out the window. I can't believe it. Anyway, we had to walk. Mile after mile after mile every day.
And so, when I look back and think about that, they had a contest. Well, I thought, contest? What's the amount of money? I think it's like about $25 or something like that. It was a lot of money in those days. So, I thought, I'm going to be the best. I'm going to do my very best.
I got up early. I got everybody's paper. I did everything like I normally do. So, I didn't have to make many changes. But I made one mistake. One morning. And those days, you folded the paper and put it like in a spitball and threw it. So, I threw this right through the window. Right through this lady's window.
I thought, oh, my goodness. All she's got to do is complain and I'll lose. She didn't complain and I won the $25. I'm just simply saying, look, the issue is, you're not going to be perfect, but you do your best, whatever that is. You cannot lose.
And remember this, who are you doing it for? Now, in that situation, I did it for $25. But when it comes to life, who are you doing it for? Ask yourself... think about this. If you and I could get one little... if we could get ten seconds standing before Jesus and looking at the reward that would be possible for us, nobody would ever have talked to you about being disciplined again.
See, what we don't realize is we don't know... we don't... we have no idea what we are missing when we do not do what God wants us to do and do the things He'd have us to do.
Now, when I think about the real contribution it makes, think about this. We're diligent in life. We discipline our life to be consistent. And one day we stand before Him and He says, "Well done." It's worth it. It'll be worth it for all eternity.
You see, we're living too much in the temporal instead of eternal.
How to Start Practicing Discipline Today
Now, you say, "Well, how do you start being disciplined"? You want to know? Say, "Amen". "Amen." Real simple. You decide today that beginning today I'm going to read a portion of the Word of God every day. Is there anybody here who could not do that? Right. Every single one of us can read the Bible every day.
That's going to teach me this. I'm going to start with that. Second thing I'm going to do is I'm going to pray and talk to God every day. Not just about all my needs, but I'm going to talk to Him about what He says in His Word. But I'm going to read His Word and I'm going to pray every day. That's two steps I can take to becoming, listen, disciplined.
I'm going to... that means... watch this now. That means I'm going to control my time. If I have to get up early to do it, then I get up early. If that means I can't do something else to read the Bible and pray, I'm going to get rid of that. But you can.
The third thing I'm going to do is this. And you can do is you can... you can tithe your income. You say, "Oh, no, he's getting around to talking about money." No. I'm getting around talking about your success. And I'm getting... I'm talking about how you can become the person God wants you to be.
Because watch this. When you... when you are disciplined with your finances and you give God what He says, what you're doing is you're giving God an opportunity to build your faith, which is one of the most powerful things you have.
And how do you start learning to build your faith? You count to ten. And you lay aside one penny out of every ten. You say, "Well, you mean if I give Him one penny out of every ten, and a dime out of every dollar, and ten dollars out of every hundred? Is that right? We keep going."
So, here's the amazing thing. People make very little. They're tired. Start making a lot of money, "Oh, I couldn't give God that much." They forget how to add and subtract. It's just that simple.
If God gives me a thousand and I give Him a hundred, I'm grateful. If He gave me ten thousand and I give Him a thousand, He's still doing the same thing. Watch this. I'm still in the same category, and He's blessed me that much more.
If you want to learn discipline, you start with reading the Word of God, praying, giving. And a good way to start discipline also is this. And that is attend worship every Sunday. Discipline says, "You know when Sunday comes, I'm going to be there."
Why? Because I'm going to meet with the people of God to fellowship and to sing and to listen to the Word of God. And I want to grow. Every single week I have an opportunity to grow, to learn something that will deepen my relationship with Him and make me more valuable to God and help me to make an impact and make a difference in somebody's life.
Well, I could just go down a long list, but I just started with the first two. Everybody can read the Bible and everybody can pray. So when you walk out of here today, or if you're listening, watching, and you don't start being disciplined in those two areas, you're going to suffer the consequences.
I'll tell you why. The Word of God is our guidebook for life. It's our guidebook for life. And all I'm saying to you is, if you want to learn to be disciplined, read a portion of it every day. Where? Well, start in the Psalms, start in the Gospels, wherever you want to start, it's up to you, and talk to God every day.
You say, when? Watch this. Whenever you choose, but choose a time that if it's all possible, you do it at the same time. Then you develop the wonderful habit.
Now, you say, well, suppose I'm not a Christian. Well, this is not going to work. But I can tell you how it will work. It's so wonderful. If you ask the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive you for your sins, and you ask Him to forgive you and to cleanse you because you want to become the person God wants you to be, you want your life to count, and you want it fulfilled.
You ask the Lord Jesus Christ to save you from your sins. By His death at Calvary, took care of your sin debt in full. Once you ask Him to forgive you, cleanse you, surrender your life to Him, He seals you as one of His children, comes into your life through the Holy Spirit, and at that point will enable you to become the person God wants you to be.
You've all heard the truth. Now, the question is this: What are you going to do about it? Do you practice discipline in your relationship to the Lord, His Word? Do you practice discipline, for example, the way you dress? Do you practice discipline in the way you handle your money? Do you practice discipline in the friends you choose, the places you go, the music you listen to, or the messages you listen to, or the magazines you read, or the books you read?
You practice discipline, some things, no. Some things, yes. Doesn't fit who I am, really fits who I am. Will help me grow in my Christian life will not help me grow. Listen, only because I love you and I care. Don't get into anything that is not going to grow you up, build you up, and make you a godly person. Don't get into that.
Whatever it might be, it's wrecking people's lives every day. You have to make a choice. And I'm saying to you that God is offering you a choice to be your best if you'll take it. Amen?