Are you a disciplined person? Do you wish you could keep yourself more focused on your priorities? What are you doing to improve your self-discipline?
When I was a child, I despised being left with a dry “sauce-less” slab of dough at the end of a savory piece of pizza. Being raised in a home where you ate what you were given, I did not have the option of leaving those crusts on my plate. It occurred to me one day that if I ate my crust first, then I could leave the biggest and best for last! So, I disciplined myself to do just that.
Is forcing ourselves to face our dislikes the only way to increase our self-discipline? While exercises like this are probably more helpful than they sound, why not increase general self-discipline by advancing in spiritual self-discipline? Romans 13:14 says, “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.” The active increase of spiritual discipline leads to denial of negative physical habits. Or, filling your life with Jesus Christ eliminates the room otherwise given to fulfilling unprofitable desires.
No disciplines are more important than the disciplines which cause you to be more filled with Jesus Christ. To develop the spiritual disciplines of prayerful Bible study, honest dependent praying, and consistent church attendance will naturally develop better overall self-discipline, even in menial areas.