Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls. Proverbs 25:28
A man whose spirit has no restraint is like a city without defenses. His convictions will deplete and his moral values will break down. In Luke 15, the prodigal son descended by stages to a level below that of animals. The first stage of his rebellion was a desire for independence. He didn’t want to live by his father’s standards or be subject to his father’s will. No longer restrained by the presence of his father, his conscience was also no longer guarded by any moral standard. The result was a descent into a degraded life.
True love has restraints. It does no evil. If we are people of love, serving a God who Himself is love, the love of God within us will result in restrained behavior. Our self-discipline as believers is born out of our love for God. We discipline ourselves to study the Word of God because we love God. We discipline ourselves to exercise because we love ourselves and want to have a healthy body. We discipline ourselves to make a living because we love the family we’re supporting.
Lust, on the other hand, has no limits to doing evil. Paul warns us not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh: “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Gal. 5:17). Instead, we are to develop the fruit of the Spirit—self-control (5:23). Paul himself declared, “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:27). Discipline builds consistency and a consistent person is dependable.
We are living in a time where the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21) are manifested in a level of intensity that is unprecedented—the world is plunging into moral degradation. There is a demand for believers to ruthlessly discipline themselves. Strong men and women who will discipline themselves to study the Word of God, to pray, to fast when needed, to obey God’s will; they are the ones the world can depend on. They are those whom others would run to in tough times. Make a decision today to be a person of discipline.
A man whose spirit has no restraint is like a city without defenses. His convictions will deplete and his moral values will break down. In Luke 15, the prodigal son descended by stages to a level below that of animals. The first stage of his rebellion was a desire for independence. He didn’t want to live by his father’s standards or be subject to his father’s will. No longer restrained by the presence of his father, his conscience was also no longer guarded by any moral standard. The result was a descent into a degraded life.
True love has restraints. It does no evil. If we are people of love, serving a God who Himself is love, the love of God within us will result in restrained behavior. Our self-discipline as believers is born out of our love for God. We discipline ourselves to study the Word of God because we love God. We discipline ourselves to exercise because we love ourselves and want to have a healthy body. We discipline ourselves to make a living because we love the family we’re supporting.
Lust, on the other hand, has no limits to doing evil. Paul warns us not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh: “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Gal. 5:17). Instead, we are to develop the fruit of the Spirit—self-control (5:23). Paul himself declared, “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:27). Discipline builds consistency and a consistent person is dependable.
We are living in a time where the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21) are manifested in a level of intensity that is unprecedented—the world is plunging into moral degradation. There is a demand for believers to ruthlessly discipline themselves. Strong men and women who will discipline themselves to study the Word of God, to pray, to fast when needed, to obey God’s will; they are the ones the world can depend on. They are those whom others would run to in tough times. Make a decision today to be a person of discipline.
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