Self-Discipline In Religion

and of self-discipline. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God who has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace." 2 Timothy 1:6-9a

Paul and the elders of the church had laid hands on Timothy and prayed over him to ordain him into ministry. Paul instructs Timothy to "fan into flame the gift of God" to encourage him to look to God for guidance so that he can use his gift as God intended him to and to draw strength, power, love and self-discipline that can only come from God. He also tells him not to be ashamed to tell others about God. Paul knew all too well

Like Timothy, we need to seek God to become the Christian leader that God intends us to be. By seeking God, the Holy Spirit fills us with the power, love and self-discipline to minister to those God puts in our paths. We need to follow where He leads so that we can be a living example to those around us. Not all of us are called to be preachers or teachers, but God uses all of us to reach people of all ages and walks of life. We need to give God our fears and insecurities so that we can do the work that God has called us to do. Not everyone that we come into contact with will understand or be receptive to the ways of God and some may even ridicule or snub us for our beliefs; but just as Paul told Timothy, we have been called into a holy life--doing the work God has put in front of us which is to help save others from living a life that leads them to an eternity in hell instead of the glories of an eternity in

A lot of times, we live our lives to please our family, friends, or the people we work with. Society, in general, expects us to be or act a certain way and to do things the way they want them done. Following the world’s way, we can get strange ideas of how we need to conduct ourselves or do our “job” or use our God given talent.

This calls to mind the Little Drummer Boy. His talent, simple as it was, was to play his drum. He was present as the young Jesus was being presented with gifts from the Wise Men. He was a poor boy and thought that he had no gift to present to the King. In his eyes, his gift paled in comparison to the Wise Men’s gold, frankincense and myrrh. He eventually decided to play his drum for Jesus.

At first, the boy was caught up in the fact that he was poor and did not have riches as the Wise Men did. He had no riches to give Jesus. What he did not understand was that Jesus wasn’t looking for riches from the young boy. Jesus simply wanted the boy to present the talent God had given him. We also struggle with using the talent that God gives us. We tend to think that our talent is not as noteworthy or grand as someone else’s; however, like the young boy, once we present our talent to Him, we will find that He is just as pleased with us as he was the young boy. The talent that the Lord gives us is the best gift that we could ever give to Him. I imagine that using our gift for the Lord makes