So Much More Inside
When I think of all the potential God has put inside each of us, I hope that you're as excited as I am for what lies ahead in 2023. We all have the capacity to grow and produce more than we're producing right now. We can do more for God, for ourselves, and for others. We have so much more inside.
But how do we develop and bring out what's inside? How do we rise to new levels and accomplish those possibilities? By discipline and self-control. It requires inner strength to bring out "the fruit of the Spirit" in our life-the love, the joy, the peace, the patience, the kindness, the goodness, the faithfulness, the gentleness, and the self-control. If we want to reach our highest potential, we have to take on the character of God in our inner man. To bring out our inner potential requires developing and exercising what God has already given us to produce a strong inner man.
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 and barred gates, they knew they could not harm the strong people inside who built the fortified walls. The writer of Proverbs is saying, "When you can't rule your own spirit, when you lack discipline or self-control, you're like a city with broken down walls. Without strong walls and barred gates, you have areas in your life where the enemy can come in and harm you."
When you have strong discipline and self-control, it puts a strain and demand on your inner man and causes it to grow stronger much like exercise puts strain on your muscles and causes them to grow. It builds strength into your inner man, and when you have a strong inner man, you can produce a strong outer man. It erects strong walls as protective boundaries around your life that don'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.
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 important areas of your life. Perhaps you need to identify an area or two 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 you a great harvest in 2023.
But how do we develop and bring out what's inside? How do we rise to new levels and accomplish those possibilities? By discipline and self-control. It requires inner strength to bring out "the fruit of the Spirit" in our life-the love, the joy, the peace, the patience, the kindness, the goodness, the faithfulness, the gentleness, and the self-control. If we want to reach our highest potential, we have to take on the character of God in our inner man. To bring out our inner potential requires developing and exercising what God has already given us to produce a strong inner man.
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 and barred gates, they knew they could not harm the strong people inside who built the fortified walls. The writer of Proverbs is saying, "When you can't rule your own spirit, when you lack discipline or self-control, you're like a city with broken down walls. Without strong walls and barred gates, you have areas in your life where the enemy can come in and harm you."
When you have strong discipline and self-control, it puts a strain and demand on your inner man and causes it to grow stronger much like exercise puts strain on your muscles and causes them to grow. It builds strength into your inner man, and when you have a strong inner man, you can produce a strong outer man. It erects strong walls as protective boundaries around your life that don'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.
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 important areas of your life. Perhaps you need to identify an area or two 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 you a great harvest in 2023.