For Young Believers

by SELF-DISCIPLINE | Category: For Young Believers | Sept 1957

"I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected" (1 Corinthians

9.27).

"Exercise thyself unto godliness " (1 Timothy 4.7).

The servant of the Lord, whether he serves whole-time, or when free from his daily employment, must be a disciplined man, and Paul urged this upon his child Timothy. An untrained man, or a man who has not learned to discipline himself is of little use in warfare. So the Lord's warriors must be trained men men who have exercised and disciplined themselves unto godliness. There is no conscription or compulsory training in the Lord's service every man must exercise himself. How then shall we start in this essential training without which our service will only mean failure.

First of all our lives must be yielded lives

"Yield yourselves unto God," wrote Paul to the believers in Rome Let us not suppose that we can please ourselves first and God second. That we may not do, if we are to serve Him.

"Love that transcends our highest powers

Demands our hearts, our life, our all."

No kind of training or Bible study will make a disciple strong spiritually unless his life is a yielded life. However much we may know of the Scriptures, and however much we may speak from them, we shall have no power in our service unless our lives are yielded to God. We are His ! Let us acknowledge it from our hearts This is the first step in the training of a man of God Young brother young sister, while you are reading this and while your heart is tender yield yourself to God. Life may seem long to you just now but it is not long, it is only a brief opportunity of serving Christ This is the only worth while thing that life holds To live chiefly to please our selves, and to make ourselves comfortable, is lust sheer waste, it is only throwing away our lives. Solemnly dedicate all that you are and have to God today. If you do so now, when you are older, if God spares you, you will be thankful that you did so in youth. Do it now, whatever age you are.

Yielded to God, we must learn to believe God, at all times and in all ways. His love and His power are infinite, and His way is perfect (Psalm 18.30). Think of the mighty effect that faith will have in your life, and discipline yourself to believe Him. Thank Him at all times for all things (Ephesians 5.20). This may not be easy at first, but when we are disciplined to it, it becomes easy and pleasant. Let your faith be manifest to others through a joyful and thankful spirit. Do not permit impatience and shortness of temper in your life.

Discipline yourselves against these. It we are to be men and women of God, then we must bring our bodies, and our minds, into subjection. We must rule over our bodies. We must not permit our bodies, or our passions, to rule over us. Remember the wise words of Solomon

"He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty

And he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city"

(Proverbs i6. 32).

We must also guard against all peevishness, and taking offence or holding a grudge against others. We must strongly discipline ourselves against this sin which ruins so many lives. Occasions of offence will come, and others may speak against us or slight us. We must discipline ourselves to rise above this. If we are to be the servants of the Living God, then we must learn to love even our enemies, and those who know nothing of the love of God in their lives. How much mere ought we to love our brethren and sisters, and to forgive them if they sin against us! It may be necessary to rebuke a brother or sister who sins against us. The Lord has commanded us to do this (Luke 17.3, 4), but it is a deadly sin to hold a grudge in the heart. We must also discipline our tongues, so that our speech is always with grace, seasoned with salt. Every wise servant of Christ will ponder carefully James 3, especially verse 17.

All self-discipline has in view the spiritual warfare, and prayer and supplication are essential to this. There are many things that will hinder us in this, and we must solemnly set ourselves to prevail in this part of the warfare. Time must be set aside for daily prayer, and a quiet place must be found. Time must also be found for longer seasons of prayer and supplication, for definite waiting upon God. The failure to wait upon God in quiet unhurried prayer, is one of the prime causes of weakness in spiritual service. We must discipline ourselves in regard to our time as well as our passions.

We must discipline ourselves in regard to our substance. The Lord's portion should be set apart first, and what we give should be the exercise of our hearts. We should give joyfully, knowing that He can multiply our seed for sowing.

Then we need vision. We need to lift our eyes beyond our own locality and our own country. We must discipline ourselves against smallness of vision. We must not allow our local and personal things to fill our minds. We must discipline ourselves in broad-mindedness in regard to the world and its need. Only so will the Master be able to send us out to reach the" other sheep" for whom He died.

These are but a few items in which the Lord's warriors must discipline themselves. Each of us will see other things in our personal lives which call for self-discipline, without which our lives will lack virtue and power. How cheering it is to see brethren and sisters whose lives are trained and disciplined, fully equipped for the service of the Lord!

SELF-DISCIPLINE | Sept 1957
For Young Believers