Beat It

With all certainty, the Apostle Paul remains one of the greatest generals of the Faith. One of the secrets to his success as a Christian was self-discipline. In his own words, he beat his body into subjection in order that his flesh would not control him. He did that so he would lead a successful Christian life and obtain an imperishable reward.
Self-discipline is one of the hardest virtues to achieve.

To demonstrate what it takes, Paul used an athlete as an example, and rightly so. Athletes are known to spend countless hours in physical training, abstain from some foods, certain activities and push themselves sometimes past their limits. Simply, self-discipline takes work. The good news is it is Spirit produced and not self-induced so you just need to tap into the Spirit for help.

God has already given us the spirit of self-discipline (2 Tim 1:7) so all we need to do is to make the effort to apply ourselves to it. Peter lists it as one of the virtues Christians must have (2 Peter 1:5-6).

We all have areas in our lives where we can use some self-discipline- our prayer life, word study, fellowship, appetites, time, finances, tithing & giving, eyes, ears, mouths, emotions, sticking to our goals, fasting. Which is yours? If there is one goal you must add to your list of goals for this year, let it be self-discipline.

Hebrews 12:11 says all discipline, including self-discipline, is painful and unpleasant but it yields fruits to those who are trained by it. The truth is self-discipline is needed in every part of your life if you want to succeed at anything. If we are ever going to mature as Christians also we have got to learn the power of self-discipline. Start beating your body (flesh) today! Do not let your flesh (body) control you, you will suffer for it.

Blessings!
Love, Lady Monica ❤