Wild Horses: Tame Your Emotions預覽

Can you control yourself? Do you rule over the passions of your body and soul? In the battle for self-control, the enemy is you. The war of the soul is a civil war that wages on the inside of the heart. You may be successful at making money, building a business, being a great leader of people, or athletic prowess, but if you cannot control yourself, you’re already finished.

Saint Paul wrote, “Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things” (1 Corinthians 9:25, KJV). Temperate is another word for self-control. Ability will help you win a game, but discipline will win a championship. Ability may get you to the top, but discipline will keep you there. The word “temperance” means discipline, and it is temperance that will set you apart.

Self-control is listed among the fruit of the Spirit. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22–23, NKJV). If you would like to live a life that is in line with the principles of God’s Kingdom on earth, study the lists of these nine attributes and make them part of your daily life.

Not every race is won in the first lap, but the runner who endures throughout the race will lift the victor’s crown. Do you have discipline in your life? Whoever refuses discipline and lives an unruly, disorderly, and reprobate life is a ticking time bomb ready to explode, shattering the lives of those close enough to be impacted by the blast.

Tradition does not save you. Good works will not open the doors of Heaven for you. Singing “Amazing Grace” on Easter morning does not make you a disciple of Jesus. It’s not what you believe. It’s what you obey. Doing what God has asked you to do is what makes you a disciple.

Jesus demanded discipline. His followers were called disciples. If you’re not disciplined, you’re not in the fold. I want you to understand that. “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples’” (John 8:31, NIV). The measure of a true disciple is a man or woman who holds fast to the teachings of Jesus.