Discipline

of a
Christian
Leader
Discipline
is a personal matter.
When men get saved,
then the disciple's
work begins, and the
great point about
discipline is that you
can never make a
disciple unless you
are one yourself.
Discipline means having the vision to see
the long term picture and
keep things in balance.
 Two (2) Pains:
 Pain of Discipline
 Pain of Regret

"If you are patient in one moment of anger,

you will escape a hundred days of sorrow."

“Regret can cost hundreds of hours,

Discipline costs minutes.
An ounce of bite-my-tongue can outweigh
a ton of “I-am-so-sorry”.”
 “…a disciple is one who stays focused on
what really matters, and is careful about letting
other less important issues or concerns
get in the way.”

The Role of Discipline in the Forming of Character:

In the forming of character in the life of a leader,
discipline is an essential element. In fact, discipline
lies at the heart of character.
Do you not know that in a race all the
runners run, but only one gets the
prize? Run in such a way as to get the
prize. Everyone who competes in the
games goes into strict training.
They do it to get a crown that will not
last; but we do it to get a crown that
will last forever. Therefore I do not
run like a man running aimlessly; I do
not fight like a man beating the air.
No, I beat my body and make it my
slave so that after I have preached to
others, I myself will not be
disqualified for the prize. (1 Cor. 9:24-
27)
Strict training, rigorous training, maximum effort
“beat my body and make it my slave”

Not like a man running aimlessly

Not one fighting – beating the air

Purpose Aim/Goal
Prize
Gold Medal
Crown
Why do we lack discipline?
Because . . . we dislike pain . . . and who doesn't?

Pain is bad.
Pain hurts.
Self-sacrifice hurts.

Discipline hurts.
But an athlete must rise above the pain
for the sake of his training.
“Without the essential quality of discipline, all other
leadership virtues remain as dwarfs: they cannot grow.”

J. Oswald Sanders wrote:

“Before we can conquer the world, we must first conquer
the self. A leader is a person who has learned to obey a
discipline imposed from without, and has then taken on a
more rigorous discipline from within. Those who rebel
against authority, and scorn self-discipline – who shirk
the rigors and turn from the sacrifices – do not qualify to
lead.”
“Many who drop out of ministry are sufficiently gifted, but
have large areas of life floating free from the Holy Spirit’s
control. Lazy and disorganized people never rise to true
leadership.”
President Harry S. Truman of USA once said,
"In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won
was over themselves ... self-discipline with all of them came first."

Truman's quote captures an important thought about discipline. It is

through personal discipline -- the actions that we take in life -- that we
plant the roots to our commitments, beliefs, dreams and our personal
sense of correctness. These values, however, depend upon our personal
discipline to stay focused and committed.

In our day-to-day lives, we are often pulled in conflicting

directions. This at times can cause us to lose our
perspective as to who we are and
why we do
what we do.

Discipline is a way to honor our sense of calling.

 Godliness is a disciplined life in Christ.

Godliness does not come automatically,

accidentally, or suddenly.

is a process that comes from living i

Discipline on Daily Decisions

Discipline starts with small trivial matters and lead to
important, critical steps.
5 Critical Choices for Disciplined Decisions
1. Your character choices.
2. Where you spend your time.
3. With whom you spend your time.
4. Your attitude.
5. Your level of discipline.

The good news is that because discipline is a choice,

it can be developed!