How to Discipline Yourself for Greatness

“But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:27)

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How to Discipline Yourself for Greatness

Do you hate being fat, flabby, and out of shape?

Do you also hate what often comes along with being out of shape, such as having zero energy, low motivation, and an utter lack of discipline in life and in your diet?

If you’re anything like most of us, you probably do hate that. But maybe hate is too strong of a word. Maybe despise would be more appropriate. Possibly even loathe. Whatever you want to call it, it isn’t fun if that’s where you’re at life right now.

And if that’s you right now, I hope what I say will speak to you.

You body is important, but it’s not as important as your mind. Your mind is important, but it’s not as important as your spirit. Your body is the housing for your soul. You are a soul and you have a body.

Did you catch that? You are a soul and you have a body.

Your body is not the real you. Your soul is the real you. But, more often than we might want to admit, the way we treat our bodies is very often a reflection of how we treat our souls.

Here’s what I mean…

Discipline Your Body

I’m speaking to Christians here. If you’re not a believer, this might not have as much application for you. If you are a Christian, then you probably already know this has meaning for you.

You do spiritual things in your body. You do earthly things in your body too. Some of these are good things, some are merely “stuff” that you do, and some are downright evil to the core.

What have you been doing lately with your body?

God gave you a body to house your soul. You are meant to work, to interact, and to feed your soul through your body.

What I mean is that reading God’s Word…the Bible…is an activity you do by turning pages with your hands, using your eyeballs to read words, using your brain to process information…all of which will ultimately bless your soul, your spirit, the real you!

You need to know how to discipline yourself in order to properly discipline your soul for godliness.

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Discipline Your Soul

How you treat your body will have DIRECT APPLICATION to how you treat your soul. If you make poor choices and poor decisions in and with your body, these will have a negative impact on your soul. For example…

• Gossip about other people with your tongue and your soul is negatively impacted.
• Lie to other people with your mouth and your soul is negatively impacted.
• Watch internet pornography with your eyeballs and your soul will be negatively impacted.

But the positive is also true.

• Serve other people’s needs by using your hands to help them and your soul will be positively impacted.
• Speak encouragement to people with your mouth and your soul will be positively impacted.
• Bear one another’s burdens with a listening ear and your soul will be positively impacted.

THEREFORE…

You need to discipline yourself bodily in order to worship God spiritually.

You need to buffet your body. No, I don’t mean like “all you can eat” buffet, either. I mean buffet your body like a boxer trains his body, his arms, his eyes…everything. You need to bring it into submission in order to receive the maximum benefit spiritually.

When you do this, you will be energized to serve God more faithfully, motivated to meet other people’s needs, and be a shining light of testimony to an unbelieving world.

How to Discipline Yourself

Let’s get practical. Here are 3 ways to discipline your physical body in order to maximize the spiritual benefits.

1. Create a schedule to organize your lifestyle. (Click here for a free schedule you can use) An unorganized body will result in an unorganized spiritual life.

• When you don’t make time to pray, you won’t pray and that lack of intimacy with God will harm your soul.
• When you’re lazy and don’t read the Bible, you will be more easily overcome in bodily temptation.
• Don’t make attending Sunday worship services a priority for you and your family, and watch how the remainder of your week suffers from lack of Christian fellowship, lack of accountability, and lack of spiritual nourishment.

2. Find a mentor or friend to hold you accountable. If you’re struggling trying to do this by yourself, find a Christian friend who can help you.

• Men, find another like-minded man to mentor you in life’s battles. Ladies, do the same…but with another female.
• God said that it isn’t good for man to be alone. That’s for a lot of things in life, not just marriage.
• An accountability partner will push you to levels that you will rarely ever push yourself to. He/She will see areas of concern and point those out to you when you didn’t even realize they were problems to begin with.

3. Exercise regularly, consistently, and at least five days per week. That doesn’t mean get a gym membership and lift weights for three hours each day. It means get organized about your exercise routine and stick with it!

• Get in a routine of doing it at the same time each day. If that means 5:30 am, then get it done in the morning. If it means 8:30 pm, then get it done at night. Each day, every day, for at least five days per week.
• Take it slow to begin with, but not too slowly. Push yourself! Discipline your body for greatness! When it comes to fitness, if nothing is burning then nothing is working.
• Write down what you plan to do each day. Don’t go with the “I’ll see how I feel each day,” because that’s a recipe for failure. For me, as of today, I walk swiftly for 35-45 minutes early in the morning, do 100-150 jumping jacks, 50-75 push ups, and three sets of arm curls. It’s not a lot, but it’s what I’m doing today.

PS: Be careful what you eat. You can’t out exercise a poor diet. If you’re putting bad stuff in your stomach, it will negatively affect your desires, your energy levels, your motivation for godliness, etc.

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Please Comment Below: What are some other ways that you can discipline yourself for greatness in life?