Breaking the Cycle: How to Build Discipline and Motivation as a Christian
Introduction: The Real Root of Discipline
The chances are if you are watching this, you have tried building discipline before. You made up your mind, started well, and after a week, two weeks, there you are where you started from. Discipline is not treated by the Bible as a willpower issue. Discipline is treated as a spiritual issue. This one factor alone is what makes all the difference when it comes to pursuing discipline.
In fact, in my preaching ministry spanning over 24 years in different churches, conferences, and events around several continents, I have been preaching the believers to walk in the Holy Spirit. Now listen to this. Self-control is not enumerated in Galatians 5 as a personal characteristic. Fruit is not anything you force yourself to do. Fruit is the result of work of the Spirit inside of you. There is a way for cooperating with it. This is the way very few Christians have ever been taught. So, in the next couple of minutes, I am going to reveal to you what the word of God says about discipline and the principles behind it which you can use tonight.
The Spiritual Partnership: You and the Holy Spirit
Moving Past the Cycle of Frustration
You want to begin reading the Bible. You want to begin praying. You want to begin taking care of your body. You want to set your finances in order. You’re determined to be disciplined. And you seem to be going in a cycle: determining to be disciplined, maybe starting good, and then going right back to where you began.
Understanding Galatians Chapter 5
Now, notice here that Paul the Apostle writes of self-control. You see the partnership of the Holy Spirit and you. The Holy Spirit produces the fruit, but the fruit is of self-control. You have to cooperate. You have to accept responsibility for your partnership or your part in your partnership with the Holy Spirit. He’s going to give you the desire. He’s going to give you the grace. He’s going to give you the help and the support, but you have to begin to make decisions ultimately that cooperate with what the Holy Spirit wants to do in your life.
Step One: Eliminate Mental Laziness
Stop Giving Yourself Credit for Intentions
Now, this is where it begins. You have to begin by getting rid of mental laziness. Everything begins with your thoughts. All of your actions, habits, lifestyle, everything originates in your thoughts. And so, you have to stop giving yourself credit for what you intend to eventually do. Intention is not discipline. Intending to get things in order is not discipline. “I’ll start on Monday, when the finances get corrected, when I finally finish school, when everything is at a perfect ideal, then I’ll get started, then I’ll begin to make decisions that are that of discipline.” But you have to start there.
Get a hold of that autopilot mode that we all go into sometimes. We’re kind of just coasting, and you take comfort, hear this now, you take comfort in the fact that you intend to eventually get things in order, and because of that you’ve given yourself credit as if it’s already done. But you have to come to the place where it’s not just talk, it’s not just thinking about it, but it’s actually taking action.
Taking Action Now
Proverbs 14:23 says this: “You may earn by working, but talking will only make you poor.” So, there is no alternative but to change that mindset. Not later on, but now. For now is the time when faith is the reality of what is hoped for, not later on. So now is the time when you must change this, and you must make this known in your mind. Do not give yourself any more excuses.
Step Two: Embrace Practical Steps and Grace
Giving Yourself Grace, Not Excuses
Okay, now that you’ve made that decision, you’ve begun there, you’ve corrected the mindset, you’ve accepted your part in your partnership with the Holy Spirit, you’ve accepted responsibility for your own procrastination, you’ve denied yourself the credit just for intention, where do you go from there?
Now, the answer here might actually surprise you because most Christians, once they determine in their mind and heart that they want to implement discipline, immediately reach for big goals. Now, let me be clear here. I’m a person of faith, you’re a person of faith, we serve a big God who can do the impossible, the supernatural, the miraculous. So, there’s nothing wrong with setting big goals or having big faith, but remember this, when it comes to the practical everyday living, God does the impossible, you do the possible.
You need to learn to cut yourself some slack. But what I mean by cutting yourself some slack is not allowing yourself to go back to being lazy; it’s cutting yourself some mercy as you continue to try and be disciplined. Here’s why you need to cut yourself some slack. Because once you give yourself some slack, you won’t get into despair when you make mistakes because often we are prevented from doing something because of that despair.
Rejoicing in Small Beginnings
So, you have to learn this. When it comes to setting your goals, biblically speaking, you must set your goals in practical steps. What this means is that we should celebrate the beginning that comes as something small. The Bible says, in Isaiah 42:3, “He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick.” What this means is that He won’t extinguish it. It’s not in his nature. He’s going to add to it until it becomes a fiery furnace again. God will take that ember, even if it’s the slightest desire. God will take that attempt, even if it’s a sad attempt at discipline, but you’re trying. You’re giving your all, your heart, soul, mind, and strength. You’re applying yourself. God will add to that. The grace of God, the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, is like interest in a bank account. You have to make the deposits and the Holy Spirit will compound your efforts, but you have to do your part. Remember, it’s a partnership, but give yourself some grace.
“I want to start reading my Bible every day.” Well, good for you, but I doubt you’re going to start off with 50 chapters a day.
“I want to begin the practice of praying every day.” But you’re probably not going to start at the 3-hour mark.
Now, eventually you want to get there, of course, but don’t despise the day of small beginnings. God rejoices to see the work begin. Start with 10 minutes a day in prayer. And I know some Christians might condemn you, “Oh, you should be praying for 3 hours or, you know, if you really enjoyed prayer, it would be much longer.” I get all that. There is some truth to that, but again, give yourself some grace. There’s a starting point. It’s not the finish line. Progress, not perfection.
Applying Small Steps to Health and Finances
Or you say to yourself, “You know what? I want to begin taking care of my physical body. I want to begin exercising and dieting properly.” Okay, well, begin with adjustments in your diet. If you go off the deep end and cut out, you know, absolutely everything that you need and maybe even, you know, salt and sugar and you go on some wild diet that’s all the way on the extreme end. Okay, sure, maybe you can lose a few pounds in a matter of a few weeks, but then is that sustainable? Or will you just go back into your old habits again after you’ve exhausted yourself? So, you begin with maybe changing the small thing in your diet:
- Maybe you like soda, give up soda.
- Maybe you like fried foods, give up fried foods.
- Maybe get to the gym and start with some basic workouts.
You start somewhere and you have to give yourself grace for where you start.
Or maybe you’re saying within yourself, “You know what? I want to get my finances in order. This is an area where I’m just out of control. I’m in debt. My spending habits are really bad. I don’t give to a ministry that helps to bless my life. I’m just not doing as the Bible says with my finances.” Okay, start here:
- Start with giving some to a ministry.
- Start with taking care of some of that debt.
- Start with pulling back on your poor spending habits.
- Set a budget and then work your way toward your goal.
Biblically speaking, the kingdom of God starts small but grows in ever-expanding influence. And this is the way it is with discipline, progress not perfection.
Step Three: Overcome Lies and Keep Sowing Seeds
How to Dispel the Lies of the Enemy
You must have heard it many times before, but the truth is, there is a chance that you really believe some of those lies told by the enemy. It is either “too late” or “it was meant to be; it would have been done.” Or maybe you just cannot do anything about it. It is just how you are; you have done your best, but things simply have not gone your way.
Understanding Spiritual Timing and Delayed Gratification
It’s in the timing of that reaping. But I can’t sow apple seeds in this season and expect to harvest it now. I have to sow and then wait until the next harvest time to reap those apples. And so, what you’re sowing now may not affect you until 6 months from now, a year from now, 5 years from now. But you still have to sow them. Consider this. You are now reaping in the life that you’re living today, right now. You are living in the fruit of what you’ve sown in past seasons.
And we don’t understand delayed gratification. We think in trees, God thinks in seeds. We want immediate results. We want to see the change right away, and we get frustrated if we don’t, we just give up. That’s kind of the conditioning that we’ve been led to have in this generation, especially because of the advancement in technology and convenience. But spiritual dynamics, they don’t change. They don’t work based on convenience and preference and your timing. What you sow now, you may not see the result of until months from now. And I can’t promise exact timing. But I can promise you what the word of God promises: that at the right time, you will reap the harvest.
And so, you make that determination in your mind. I have to begin to act now, not later, not sometime in the future, not when I think everything is perfectly ideal, but right now. You have to act now. And you must realize that you are going to begin small. That it will be a process, not perfection. It is going to be a journey, not perfection. It is going to be about decision-making on a daily basis, and it is going to be about understanding the reality that there are times when you will feel frustrated with yourself for not making any progress. What you sow today is your tomorrow.
The decisions you make for your finances today, you’re going to be reaping a year from now. The decisions you make in terms of your physical body today, what you eat, what you don’t eat, the exercise you do or do not do, you’re going to reap it later. Your Bible reading, your prayer time, the investment in ministry, the development of character, all of it is going to be reaped at a later date.
And so some people sow sporadically. Some seasons they sow good, some seasons they sow bad. And so their seasons go up and down. And then what you might say is, “I’m doing well now, why don’t I see any results?” Because you’re still reaping from the last season. So begin sowing good seeds now, and then sow good seeds consistently and in every season, and eventually you’ll begin to reap the fruit of that discipline.
Things may not turn out to be perfect; however, one thing I can assure you is that things will change. They may not turn out to be what you wanted; however, I will definitely say that things will improve. And we trust in God’s timing. And we do the difficult, while God does the supernatural. Sow those seeds and recognize that it will happen. That’s the biggest lie. Please hear me. Listen to me. That is the biggest lie that discourages people in a way that keeps them from becoming disciplined is that they tell themselves they’re not that person. They say to themselves that it is not just going to work out for me. Let God be true and let every man lie. Let God be true and let every devil lie. Whatever you sow will surely grow. Therefore, continue to sow amidst the frustration.
Step Four: Anchor Your Motivation in the Eternal
Shifting from Material to Eternal Motivation
Now, here’s something else that’s going to help you. As you push through the frustration, as you commit to sowing good seeds of discipline despite what you see or don’t see in this season, you also need a bigger motivation. You see, if we attach our motivation to the things of this world, then like the things of this world, our motivation will be inconsistent. If you attach your passion to the material, then like the material, that passion will fade. Only when you attach your motivation to the eternal, does that motivation continue to be. When we think with the mindset of eternity, we’re given that supernatural drive to push forward.
Because if you’re only living for the things of this world, if you’re only living for the here and now or the short term, meaning your lifespan, then you’ve missed it. As Christians, we don’t just live for the now, though we appreciate it. We don’t just live for ourselves, though we take care of ourselves. We live and we think as God thinks. We think in generations, and we think in eternity. What will outlast you?
Making the Most of Every Opportunity
God has given you breath and life. He’s given you existence in this earthly realm, and you must not waste it. Let your motivation be the heavenly. Let your motivation be souls being saved. Let your motivation be hearing from the Lord, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Let your motivation be to please God. Let your motivation be the next generation of believers, the next generation of Christians who will come after us so that they may take the gospel to the ends of the earth. Attach your passion to the eternal, and that passion will never fade. And that passion will help to partner with and drive your discipline.
Conclusion: A Prayer and Next Steps
Okay, now I want you to pray something. Wherever you are, just say this with me:
“Father, it’s not enough for me just to intend to follow You. I want to follow You. Holy Spirit, work through me. Pour Your power into my weaknesses. Give me the desire to make those little steps, the endurance to persevere and sow without seeing any fruits, and eyes that are fixed on eternity, on what will endure. I place my self-discipline in Your hands. In the powerful name of Jesus I pray. Amen.”
Now, hear me. If that was your prayer, I want you to type a big amen in the comment section because someone else who’s tired of starting over, who’s tired of dealing with discipline issues needs to see that they’re not the only one.
And now I want to take a moment to encourage you to do something that may stretch your faith a little bit. I want to encourage you to support this ministry financially, whether through a single gift or through a monthly gift. Your support is going to help us to continue to reach people all around the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. So, if you want to be a part of something bigger, you want to join this Holy Spirit movement, then get involved today. Help to pay this forward. Somebody else sowed to help bring this to you. Now I’m asking you to do your part. Help our ministry expand the kingdom of God.
And if you want to go deeper on this, because all of it comes back to walking with the Holy Spirit day by day, I’ve got a teaching that picks up right where this one leaves off. It’ll be right here on the screen. Go watch it next. And until next time, remember, nothing is impossible with God.
