Develop Your Potential
I get excited whenever I think of all the potential God has put inside each of us. We all have the capacity to grow and produce more than we're producing right now. We all can do more for God. We have so much more inside us!
But how do we develop and bring out that potential? By discipline and self-control. Proverbs 25:28 says, "Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls." When the enemy saw a city with strong walls, it could not harm the strong people inside who built the walls. When you have a strong inner man, you can produce a strong outer man. Today your discipline and self-control represent strength in your life that doesn't leave you exposed to the enemy's tactics—the temptations, all the ways he wants to get you off course. When you rule over your spirit, which is your inner man, you are strong! You can resist!
The apostle Paul tells us the problem in Romans 7:22–23: "For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity"—the flesh, which represents our self-will to have our own way, to not live under control, to follow our emotions and thoughts. The flesh wants to spend money you don't have, to eat whatever you want, to say whatever you think, to do whatever is the easiest thing or whatever you feel like.
But you have to say, "No, I'm not going to let the flesh run wild. I'm going to put it under control with my strong spirit man." Discipline and self-control are the tools that God gave you to succeed and to reach your full potential. Discipline says, "I will be a productive person. I budget my money. I have goals to reach and skills to develop. I'm going to eat right, rest right, and exercise right." Every time you choose discipline and self-control, you say no to the enemy having his way in your life. You're building those strong walls!
Hebrews 12:11 says, "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace." Discipline builds up the eternal, the important things in your life. Perhaps you need to identify an area or two of your life that need to be strengthened. Maybe you need to stop doing some things that keep you weak. Perhaps you need to let go of a few people who are breaking down your inner strength. Maybe you just need to focus on it and let self-control and discipline bring a great harvest in your life!
But how do we develop and bring out that potential? By discipline and self-control. Proverbs 25:28 says, "Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls." When the enemy saw a city with strong walls, it could not harm the strong people inside who built the walls. When you have a strong inner man, you can produce a strong outer man. Today your discipline and self-control represent strength in your life that doesn't leave you exposed to the enemy's tactics—the temptations, all the ways he wants to get you off course. When you rule over your spirit, which is your inner man, you are strong! You can resist!
The apostle Paul tells us the problem in Romans 7:22–23: "For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity"—the flesh, which represents our self-will to have our own way, to not live under control, to follow our emotions and thoughts. The flesh wants to spend money you don't have, to eat whatever you want, to say whatever you think, to do whatever is the easiest thing or whatever you feel like.
But you have to say, "No, I'm not going to let the flesh run wild. I'm going to put it under control with my strong spirit man." Discipline and self-control are the tools that God gave you to succeed and to reach your full potential. Discipline says, "I will be a productive person. I budget my money. I have goals to reach and skills to develop. I'm going to eat right, rest right, and exercise right." Every time you choose discipline and self-control, you say no to the enemy having his way in your life. You're building those strong walls!
Hebrews 12:11 says, "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace." Discipline builds up the eternal, the important things in your life. Perhaps you need to identify an area or two of your life that need to be strengthened. Maybe you need to stop doing some things that keep you weak. Perhaps you need to let go of a few people who are breaking down your inner strength. Maybe you just need to focus on it and let self-control and discipline bring a great harvest in your life!