Self-Discipline- What God's Word Says

Do you know what the bible says about discipline? Quite a lot actually. Hebrews 12:11 is my fav, "No discipline is pleasant at the time but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who are trained by it."

We read in Galatians about the fruits of the spirit, self-discipline being one of them. What does that mean? That means that if Jesus Christ is your personal Savior, you have ALL the fruits mentioned. Self-control/discipline is one of them. We have to operate on God's power to implement this change, it's hard, messy and not always fun, but sister, I'm tellin ya, that righteousness and peace that comes with it feels so good, even when the hard days come, and trust me, they will. 

Nothing good in life comes easy, but when we operate on resurrection power, we change, not because of our power, but God's power within us! 

Are you sick of trying diet after diet and NOT losing weight?

Hey there friend, I'm Lindy Schlabach, Christian Fitness & Nutrition Coach. I gained 100 pounds in my late twenties and struggled for years to get it off. Seven years ago, I found a basic system that worked and has helped me lose 90 of those pounds. I’ve been working with women in online fitness and nutrition ever since to break chains of diet culture, embrace their bodies and fueling instead of dieting.

In this podcast, I'll teach you how to:

• • Lose Weight in a Way that honors God without obsessing about the scale
  • Meal Plan and Prep for Your Family
  • Follow a MACRO based plan that allows you to eat the foods you love.
  • Recognize and pray through triggers keeping you stuck.
  • I’ll help you Plan your week and schedule your self-care time.
  • Cultivate a spirit of self-discipline in your workouts you actually enjoy.
  
  It's time to give God your health journey and watch Him make you new, from the inside, OUT.

Join The Biblical Weight Loss Framework: https://www.herweightlossmindset.com/framework

Join my FREE Community: https://bit.ly/JoinTheChristianWeightLossCommunity

Join my Insiders List with weekly tips for weight loss for Christian women: http://herweightlossmindset.com/herweightlossmindsetinsiders

Transcript

I'm about to drop a naughty word in your lap, are you ready?

Don't turn me off, please, stick with me here.

Discipline, this word is a fruit of the spirit, and it will be all the difference in reaching your weight loss goals.

Listen, I never ever considered myself to be a discipline person, but God really convicted me and told me that I needed to be, I needed to lean into that fruit.

Ouch, if I wanted true change, I had to take responsibility for my actions and learn to be teachable.

Wow, the struggle is real.

Are you ready to lean into this fruit and let God mold you?

Grab your pen, grab your paper, and let's pray.

Lord lead us, open our hearts.

Here we go.

Are you sick of trying diet after diet and not losing weight?

Are you tired of doubting your ability to actually lose weight in a healthy way?

Do you wish you could find a laid out for you plan that will help you stay accountable to your goals?

Hey, friends, I'm Lindy Schlabach, Christian Fitness & Nutrition Coach.

I gained 100 pounds in my late 20s and struggled for years to get it off.

So grab your pre-workout and let's chat.

Once you're tired of trying diet after diet and not losing weight, I've lost over 90 pounds in my fitness and nutrition journey, and it is simply by the grace of God and learning to lean into the fruit that we're going to talk about today.

Listen, are you tired of comparing yourself to every influencer or person on social media and feeling overwhelmed and completely defeated about your lack of results?

Do you have zero time to meal prep or know even what you're doing?

Do you struggle to feel or understand that you'll ever actually even lose the weight?

I know how hard it is to try one more thing, but when you pray and seek God's direction, trust that he will show up for you in a mighty way.

You deserve to love the body that you live in every day and feel good in her.

You are not alone in your struggle.

I have been there.

I have struggled with sexual assault, loss, infertility, elastic weight gain.

I gained 100 pounds in my elite 20s.

Listen, you are not alone.

I am here for you.

Learn to God and seek his will in your weight loss journey.

But if you need help, join the framework.

You can find the link to sign up in the show notes at herweightlossmindset.com/framework.

That's herweightloss.com/framework.

So, if you Google discipline, the definition in the noun is the practice of training people to obey rules or code of behavior and using punishment to correct disobedience.

A lack of proper parental and school discipline was the example that they gave.

Says a branch of knowledge, typically one studied in higher education.

Then the verb is to train someone to obey rules or code of behavior using punishment to correct disobedience.

So, I guess that's kind of the same as the noun.

It says many parents have been afraid to discipline their children.

But, I like the discipline as a branch of knowledge, typically one studied in higher education.

So, I have recently befriended another adoptive mom in our church, and we were sitting having coffee one day this week, and she was talking about discipline, and, you know, discipline being the ability to teach.

And it was just such a profound thought for me, because discipline we think is like, you know, swatting to correct behavior or chastising to correct behavior.

And that's just really not true.

When God talks about, in Galatians, the fruits of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, and self-control or discipline, I have to count those out on my finger to make sure I get all nine.

I've missed many before, but the last one is self-control or self-discipline.

If Christ is your Savior, you have the fruit of discipline in your life.

You just need to cultivate it and pray for strength and ask God to lead you.

So, Hebrews 12-11, this is one of my all-time favorite verses.

It says, No discipline is pleasant at the time.

Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who are trained by it.

Produces a harvest of righteousness and peace.

Don't you want that in your life for those who are trained by it?

I know I do.

Proverbs 12-11, in the English Standard Version says, Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

Okay, David.

Whoa, seriously.

Like, whoever loves discipline loves knowledge.

Knowledge, the ability to be teachable, right?

But he who hates reproof or change or discipline is stupid.

1 Corinthians 927 says, But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified.

If we are going to walk out the Great Commission, which is the entire premise of the gospel, is loving people to Jesus, we must learn to cultivate the fruit of discipline in our life.

To be teachable, to lean into this powerful word.

I just pray that your heart will be open.

It is the difference between those who have success in their biblical weight loss journey and those who fail at another quick fix and fad diet.

If we do not heal the junk in our brain, we will never be able to look past ourselves and serve other people.

It is our duty and our call as believers to walk out the Great Commission, and we can't do that if we're so self-seeking and refuse to accept the Lord's discipline.

You have it, beloved.

The fruit of discipline is in you.

And this might be a tough love message today, but I want to encourage you to lay down yourself.

To give up your excuses.

To stop focusing on all the things that you think you're not, or think that you should be, or maybe the world, or someone has implanted this lie in your head of what you should look like.

Pray for strength and let this fruit become a part of who you are.

You have the fruit of discipline in you.

Learning to be teachable.

Open the word.

See what the Bible says about your body.

See what the Bible says about how we're supposed to walk in obedience.

See what the Bible says about discipline and the other fruits in our life.

The call to change through Holy Spirit conviction is to lean in to self-control and discipline.

What do you need to be disciplined in?

Is it your lack of control around sugar or sweets?

Or coffee or alcohol or carbs?

Are you online shopping to fill a void that only Jesus can fill?

Is it scrolling social media mindlessly?

There is nothing in the Bible that says do anything mindlessly.

You're like, oh, I just need to blow off some steam at the end of the day.

No, you don't.

You need to sit down, ask God what it is that he needs you to do in your life, and then have the strength and courage to walk out that discipline.

Minus one, it says, Rather, he must be hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.

If you look up discipline in the Bible, like if you go to your index in the back, there will be countless verses for you to read.

And then ask the Lord, okay Lord, can you implant one of these in my mind?

Hebrews 12, 11 is a great one.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time.

And later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who are trained by it.

If you want to lose weight, you must learn to be disciplined.

Sometimes that means saying no to things that you haven't asked God if you should even be a part of.

Are you volunteering at your kid's school or PTA without praying over that?

I know sometimes we have to do things like that, like it's a requirement, but are you doing extra?

Are you going above and beyond?

Is someone at your church asking you to participate in something and God hasn't led you there?

What is the thing in your life that you have not seeked the Lord's Council on?

Are you saying yes to everything?

Are you refusing to rest in Sabbath?

Are you scrolling endlessly on social media?

I'm telling you, if you have time to scroll social media, you have time to bust out a workout, you have time to pray, you have time to read the Bible, you have time to food prep.

But being disciplined with your time management is a huge struggle.

And the one thing that I see my students working through the framework, it is the one thing where they lack focus and discipline.

So in the framework, we create a morning routine for you.

I teach you how to time block and what that looks like, like based on your day, your week.

You have this fruit.

Lean into this fruit.

Be willing to pray that Psalm 139, 23, and 24 verse.

Search me, God, and know my heart.

Test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.

When you pray that every day, and repentance becomes the biggest part of your prayer.

This morning, I was like, I was so unfocused in my prayer.

I knew I needed to repent.

I had like the most horrible day yesterday.

But even through the day yesterday, I kept praying, Lord, heal me, heal me.

Get these thoughts out of my head.

Like, just let me focus on my blessings.

Help me focus on my blessings.

Meet up all the offensive way in me, Lord, and lead me in the way everlasting.

He will lead you to a fruit of discipline.

But then it's your job to walk in that fruit and say, okay, Lord, this is uncomfortable for me, but I know that you need me to heal here.

Let me get out of my own way.

Let me rid myself of who I belong to you.

Turn on some Jesus jams, say a prayer, open your Bible.

He will lead you exactly where you need to go.

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

I mean, it just doesn't get any more clear than that.

This is a hard message.

This is one that I have to lean into every day because I don't always feel disciplined in certain areas of my life.

But no, when God changes us, when he fixes our mess, we glorify him through the fruit.

It's not about what we can do.