I had a conversation with a young teenager that is getting ready for her senior year of high-school. She told me that she has decided to pursue a nursing degree in college, and that the amount of classwork required during this last year of school is leaps and bounds beyond what she’s encountered before. Most of her classes are difficult and will consume a lot of her time. She’s very concerned that she might not meet the requirements, and do as well this year as she has in the past. How many of us can relate to her feelings of insecurity? When it comes to pursuing something that we really want, sometimes we feel as though we’re not quite smart enough to make the grade or attractive enough for someone we might be interested in. You look at what you think it will take to achieve your goal or dream, and you wonder if you have it within you.
It is sometimes very shocking the way things turn out. Unsuspecting people achieve great feats, and those that many of us have never considered attractive end up marrying very attractive individuals. This lets us know one very important truth. Achieving our goals, gaining success, and getting what we want out of life is not dependent on looks or smarts, although those things can help. Achieving success in our endeavors is dependent on two things, discipline and determination.
Jesus Christ taught us this through his lifestyle. He lived a very disciplined life. He didn’t waste time on getting caught up in the agenda and arguments of politics, the economy, or society. He stuck to God’s script, and taught about God’s agenda. In John 8:29(NKJV), he said, “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” This is the kind of lifestyle that you and I should adopt.
Discipline is defined as a particular training that is expected to yield or produce specific characteristics and patterns of behavior in a person. Proverbs 15:31-32 (NLT) gives us a very precise piece of wisdom on this subject. It says, “31 If you listen to constructive criticism, you will be at home among the wise. 32 If you reject discipline, you only harm yourself; but if you listen to correction, you grow in understanding.” The Way of Christ is a very disciplined existence—it is a spiritual lifestyle; one where we place the well-being of our spiritual condition above even the needs of our flesh. Being spiritually whole in Christ allows us to maintain a rewarding relationship with Heavenly Father; and therefore, it must be our first priority.
Through his example, Jesus Christ demonstrated that sacrifice is not only necessary, it is also rewarded. Any time that we have something that we truly desire and want to accomplish, it is going to call upon us to make a sacrifice of some kind, whether it be our time, energy, or resources. It will require a commitment, and this is where the discipline really comes into play, because sometimes we will need to give up quite a bit, and do so repeatedly, before we see the results we desire. Every single woman will do well to understand that she is going to have to give up some things in order to achieve the greater glory.
It’s not always going to be easy. Sometimes we have to give up certain friends, and other times we will have to say no to activities we’ve enjoyed in the past. There may even be times when we have to cut certain people from our lives completely, with absolutely no contact with them at all. This can be the hardest thing to do, but in the end, we will see the hand of God working in our favor. He will take care of any fall-out from the breaks, and take care of the individuals we needed to cut loose.
Determination is a firm resoluteness with respect to purpose. This is why it is so incredibly important to know the Will of God concerning our lives. We can have an absolute certainty that God will back our every footstep and keep us from falling when we are doing what He desires us to do. We can be on our grind with the full expectation of being victorious.
God has a plan and purpose for each of us, and it is far better than we could ever imagine. His Word is given to help protect our lives, to keep us operating within His plan and purpose, and to keep us flourishing in the Spirit; but sometimes we choose a course that is completely out of bounds. It is a course that we think will help us achieve faster, and with less discipline; but this is almost always a poor choice.
Determination yields results when we are following God’s plan, but disaster rears its ugly head when we veer off of God’s plan of success for us. Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” We think we have it all figured out, but the truth is, we can only see as far as our eyes can take us, which is very limited. God sees the entire scope of our lives; He knows our past, He sees our present, and He holds our futures. Don’t deviate from God’s Word. Trust in Him to make your path clear, and then be determined to walk it as straightly as you can.
When we live our lives for God, we can be determined not to fail; we can stay the course of victory. If that’s not good news, I don’t know what is. How extraordinary it is to know that we can have a dream in our hearts, apply our resources of time, energy and effort; and finally be rewarded by God. And this is the HUGE truth that we have to comprehend. It’s God who does the rewarding. He rewards us, and He requires our discipline and determination, because these are Kingdom precepts. They teach us how to operate with a Kingdom state of mind. So know that when you set out to accomplish a goal or a dream, you don’t have to second guess. God will reward you if you follow His Word and seek His Will for your life.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Discipline and Determination” written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2016. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.