How Disciplined Are You?

“But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached

to others, I myself should become disqualified.” (I Corinthians 9:27, NKJV)

The Apostle Paul in this ninth chapter of the book of First Corinthians explains to

the Christians at Corinth the importance of living a disciplined life. He uses the

example of a runner who trains for a race, who if not disciplined, will miss the goal

and not obtain the prize. So to is the Christian who does not live a disciplined life.

The truth is, many of us struggle in the area of discipline in one way or another.

The temptation is to live life thinking only of today, satisfying ourselves with

whatever desire we want at the time. Yet, as Paul warns us, we do so at the

expense of our future. We tend to eat too much and exercise too little. We

stimulate our minds and emotions with ideas and images from television, movies,

music and the internet that do nothing to edify our lives. We are negligent in the

area of feeding our spirits the things of God. Too many are simply living

undisciplined lives.

We must remember, only the disciplined win the prize. Study the daily habits of

people you might deem successful and you will see none waste their day doing

what does not help them reach their goals. Successful people are disciplined

people.

Remember, no goal worth reaching has ever been attained without hard word and

discipline. Let us commit to being like Paul, disciplining ourselves and bringing

our bodies, thoughts and actions under subjection, that we too, can win the prize.

Do you want to win? Do you want to be successful? Do you want to prosper? If

your answer to each of these questions is yes, the question then becomes, HOW

DISCIPLINED ARE YOU?