Self-Discipline Is A Scam

Self cannot discipline self. You cannot be the jailer and the jailed at the same time.

One of the excuses we give for not doing what we need to do is that we don't feel like doing it. This excuse is not always obvious. We subconsciously use it to procrastinate responsibilities and postpone our future.

For no apparent reason, we wake up, decide on what to do but realize that everything within us is unwilling to do it. You cannot simply get yourself to do it. There is no excitement, no enthusiasm! And the work is left undone until the moment of pressure when the deadline is imminent then compelled to do it.

Jesus summarized this phenomenon with this statement, “The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). The scenario where He said this perfectly illustrates this struggle that almost every human goes through.

Jesus took his disciples to the mountain to pray with Him. Perhaps, all of them vowed to "give the devil fire" that night. Peter even promised Jesus, "Even if I had to die with You, I will not deny You" (verse 35) but when they got to the mountain to pray, the Bible says, "He came to the disciples and found them sleeping" (verse 40).

Jesus woke them up to get them to pray. After a while, Jesus came back to check them and He “found them asleep again for their eyes were heavy” (v43).

The plan was to pray but the body felt like sleeping and they chose the feeling over the plan. This is the same reason people resort to low-value tasks, surfing the internet and binging on socio-media or sleeping instead of doing the work they set out to do.

Know this: you cannot succeed in life if you live based on how you feel. You cannot be a captive to your feelings and enjoy a life of freedom.  You cannot be gratifying your body all the time and expected to achieve your goals in life.

Life is designed to be lived by intention and on purpose.

Your ability to get yourself to do what you need to do when you need to do it irrespective of how you feel is the secret to a successful life.

It is the essence of self-discipline.

But what do we do to free ourselves from the prison of our feelings? What do we do to come to a place of consistent productivity? How do we overcome the constant mood swings and inward resistance that deprives us of the joy that comes from doing our work?

The following principles will help you to understand the paradigm behind the inward resistance that we feel. You will also discover how to overcome it permanently.

•  The unwillingness to work is a symptom of a much bigger problem; the fallen nature of man.

  Human nature hates to work. It loves pleasure and entertainment and anything that will make it feel good. It will resist anything that wants to deny it of expressing itself the way it wants and how it wants it.

  It is naturally prone to do the bad and cry when asked to do good.

  “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing” (Romans 7:15,19).

  This statement is a graphic description of the daily experience of many. Unfortunately, they do not know how to free themselves.

  Paul, under the consistent sting of human nature, cried out,

• Self-discipline is a scam.

  Self cannot discipline self. Self-discipline implies that you want to put yourself under some stringent conditions.

  Indeed, no one ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and cherishes it (Ephesians 5:29).

  You cannot be the jailer and the jailed at the same time. No! It may work for a while but you may soon find yourself breaking the rules you have set for yourself.

  This is why we fail often despite all the productivity hacks and apps that we use these days.

• The unwillingness to work is also a symptom of an unregenerated and weak spirit or a weak mind.

  If your spirit or mind is weak, it will affect the response of your body. When we are unwilling to work, it is often a reflection of the state of our minds, not our bodies. 

  Proverbs 15:13 says,

  “A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit” (NIV).

  You might discover that you are not productive simply because your spirit is weak or your mind is disturbed. And it will continue until you fix that.

• Lead your body by the Spirit.

  Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). It is not something you do in the energy of the flesh. It takes a person under the control of the Holy Spirit to achieve self-control. It is not in hacks or apps; it is in yielding our bodies to the Holy Spirit as instruments of righteousness.

  The flesh/body has to be "hacked" by the Holy Spirit for it to live above the dictates of its fallen nature.

  "If you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live" (Romans 8:13).

• Your number one responsibility is to ensure that your spirit and your mind are consistently kept alive.

  It is the essence of spending time daily in God's presence in prayer and the word of God. Reading good and spiritual books, listening to messages and audio programs also help to bring the spirit and mind alive.

  As you spend time in God’s presence and read good books, strength radiates into your inner man to subdue the unbridled desires of your body.

  A version of the Bible, The Passion, actually translates “self-control” in Galatians 2:23 as “strength of spirit.” In other words, you cannot have self-control when you do not have strength in your spirit and this comes as you expose yourself to the Holy Spirit in His word and prayer.

  Paul said we get “strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man” (Ephesians 3:16).

• Give the Lord the first and the best.

  Let the Lord take the first place in your heart, your time and your resources.  Start your day with Him and see how He equips you with the strength and wisdom to navigate many things on your to-do list.

  What unsettles us is that we rush into a chaotic world daily without getting our minds and spirits equipped with the necessary spiritual and psychological resources.

  Be like Jesus who "woke up very early. He left the house while it was still dark and went to a place where he could be alone and pray” (Mark 1:35 ERV).

• Stay consistent.

  The secret is in being consistent. It is the way Daniel grew to become such an indispensable personality in the government of Babylon.

  By spending time with God consistently three times daily, an unprecedented dimension of a productive life opened up to him.

  You may not have as much time as Daniel but be consistent with the time you have agreed to meet with God daily.

There is a dimension of a productive and fruitful life that we have not experienced because we are still doing it the popular way.

But if we decide to go the Spirit's way, we will begin to understand how Daniel and his friends were ten times better than their classmates and why he could remember the forgotten dream of Nebuchadnezzar.

Joseph could interpret Pharaoh's dream and profer economic solution that will save the entire world because of the same reason. Even Pharaoh credited Joseph's ability to the Spirit because all the experts in his government had failed him.

We will then learn that this "Jesus thing" applies to our academic, business and career pursuits. The Holy Spirit is not something we do only in church but also offices and all platforms of human endeavours. 

Other things will take care of themselves once your life is surrendered to Christ and led by the Spirit. You will no longer gratify the desires of your flesh. You no longer live on impulse; feeling pressured to do less productive things.

You will develop the inner fortitude to do what you need to do. You will worry less and grow in your ability to stay focused. You will gradually be delivered from the rat race and the pressure that everyone feels.

By surrender, I am not talking about raising your hands in the church to say the sinner's prayer. I am talking about a conscious decision to make Jesus the Lord and controller of your entire life through the Holy Spirit.

It is not something you do passively. The commitment has to be active, daily and eternal. It is something you have to give time to; allowing His word and wisdom to permeate your entire being.

I have found this to be the ultimate secret to a productive and fulfilling life.

© Olufemi Babalola

P.S. Join more than 200 individuals in a WhatsApp Group as we look at the critical issue of FINDING and FULFILLING PURPOSE this Sunday.

Join here!