We hear a lot these days about how we should be self-controlled and disciplined, and rightly so. But for Christians, our control and discipline are to be rooted within God.

As a Christian we learn self-control and discipline by “presenting” our body, (which means our life) as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, and that is accomplished by renewing our mind to the Word of God (Romans 12:1-2). When our mind is renewed to God’s way of thinking, then our mind is prepared for action in a self-controlled and disciplined manner.

We cannot be out of control and be in, or have self-control at the same time; we must decide how we want to respond to situations before we are faced with them. We must prepare our mind for correct action before we encounter situations that might press us out of control. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 23:7 that as a person thinks in his heart, so is he. That means our attitudes, actions and words derive from how we think. If we see ourselves as victims, we will be more likely to be out of control in our emotions, words, and actions. Seeing ourselves victorious gives us a peace in our emotions, words, and actions. God wants us to live victoriously in this life; we need His help to do that.

To think correctly, we must have the mind of Christ, which means we need to think like Jesus. His mind was always on doing what the Father wanted Him to do; and that’s the way we should be too.

Jesus was able to complete His purpose on earth because He kept his relationship with the Father a priority. God has a purpose for each of us and the only way we will be able to complete our purpose is by having the same discipline – keeping our relationship with God a priority. He has assignments for each of us, but it is up to each person to walk out those assignments.

Sometimes we may feel alone in our faith and need a little help to view things correctly, so I’ve listed five things to think about to help us to be bold and step out in faith and fulfill and complete the plans God has for our life.

1. See yourself as a light in the darkness rather than alone in the darkness.

2. Know that adversity cannot take your integrity; you give it away or yield to it.

3. The loss of, or the keeping of, our integrity changes our destiny.

4. Our destiny, or future, is determined by how we live our lives each day.

5. Our destination is the place – where we are going – heaven.

So I encourage you to follow Jesus’ example: daily prepare and renew your mind by reading and studying the Bible, praying and fellowship with God.