Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.
Proverbs 25:28
All this I do for the gospel’s sake, in order to share in its blessings. Surely you know that many runners take part in a race, but only one of them wins the prize. Run, then, in such a way as to win the prize. Every athlete in training submits to strict discipline, in order to be crowned with a wreath that will not last; but we do it for one that will last forever. That is why I run straight for the finish line; that is why I am like a boxer who does not waste his punches. I harden my body with blows and bring it under complete control, to keep myself from being disqualified after having called others to the contest.
1 Corinthians 9:23–27, Good News Bible
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
2 Timothy 1:7
An elder must be… hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.
Titus 1:6a, 8
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
Titus 2:11–14
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Hebrews 12:11
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Galatians 5:24–25
Since we are called to be “in the world but not of the world” (John 17:13–16), to an extent the people of God will always be swimming against the stream of the social current. “Follow your bliss” is not our mantra.
So self-discipline is required of us in making daily choices as we move through whichever milieu is native to us, “discerning the spirits” (1 Corinthians 12:10) of what sometimes feels like every darn thing – every TV programme, investment, and purchase; the clothes we wear, the company we keep, the language we use, the nature and quality of our friendships and sexual relationships, the business practices in which we engage. All of it is to be brought under scrutiny to determine not whether we can get away with it and still go to church, but whether it is wholesome, pure, edifying, and holy, building the peaceable kingdom that will be good news in a fallen world.
Evangelism – the extension of the reign of Christ in our society – is an every believer ministry, not the job of missionaries working somewhere else and supported by donations from the rest of us.
This daily, week-in, week-out attention to integrity and virtue in godly living
requires more self-discipline than any of us actually has. And when we fall down on the job we go to God and humbly ask forgiveness; then we start again.
O God, our rock, our strength, and our redeemer, we rest in you, we trust in you. Unless you build the house, we who labour work in vain. Make us wise to see what is worth our priority and focus, give us courage to choose and hold on to what is good, and give us tenacity and perseverance to run the race set before us with our eyes fixed upon the prize of eternal life. In Jesus’ holy name we pray; Amen.
