Self-Discipline

Pray and ask God to open up your eyes to see your life as it really is.
 Ask Him to help you see your ways and your sins as He sees them.
Ask Him to reveal the truth and help you not to be deceived by the world.

Matthew 18:7-9 “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.”

Think of one thing that leads you to sin. Keep it in your mind. Now, let’s check out Jesus’ pretty intense words to us in the scripture above. Jesus uses these overstatements to emphasize the necessity of using self-discipline to remove sin from our lives before the sin leads to judgment. If being around certain friends leads you to sin, don’t be around them. It’s better for you to enter life without some friends than to go with all of your “friends” down the wide path which leads to Hell. If you HAVE to be around them, put your guard up, but keep your distance as much as possible. If being in a certain place causes you to sin, then don’t go there. If watching certain movies or T.V. shows causes you to sin, don’t watch them. I know this is hard, but I can tell you from experience that it is definitely worth any hardship. The peace and joy we gain from a right relationship with Christ is so much more than anything we could gain on this earth. He is so much better than any earthly friend. So, if being on Snapchat, Instagram, or any other app on your phone causes you to sin, don’t get on it. Delete it. You can be free from it. You have choices in your life. All of these forms of entertainment - friendships, social media, movies, and T.V. shows - are ok within reason, but if they lead you to sin, then they are bad; that’s when you need to use self-discipline and remove them from your life. “Self-discipline is the ability to pursue what one thinks is right despite temptations to abandon it (Jabbour, 2017).” Exercise self-discipline with the help of the Lord; pursue truth and righteousness; renew your mind; be refreshed in your spirit.  Read Romans 12:1-2

What is one thing that immediately came to mind when you were thinking about, “what leads me to sin?”

How can you begin to cut this thing out of your life in order to grow something new and better?

Pray and ask God to give you the strength to cut certain activities or relationships out of your life that are bad influences and lead you to sin.