They that sow in tears shall reap
in joy.
He that goeth forth and weepeth,
bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his
sheaves [with him]. Psalms 126: 5-6
But I discipline my body and
keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be
disqualified. 1 Corinthians 9:27
Personal discipline is the vehicle
through which leaders can achieve their mission. Without personal discipline,
goal setting is futile, and prioritization is useless. Servant Leadership
success hangs on the thread of a life lived in obedience to God’s leading. God
is on a mission to redeem men and women (young and old) back to a right
relationship with Him and as a servant leader, you are a vital part of that
mission. He communicates His kingdom’s agenda to His disciples through the
Bible, prayer, circumstances and His Church which can only be executed by men
and women who are willing to submit themselves to the discipline of His
leadership. Psalms 126 referenced above, shows the results (“joy and a harvest
of fruitfulness”) of walking in discipline ( “sow in tears”, “weeping and
sowing seeds” ). When a leader sows seeds of discipline therefore, he or she
will reap both joy and fruitfulness.
We live in the age of the
Information Technology (IT) revolution. Some benefits of this revolution include
faster communication, greater connectivity of the globe, the automation,
greater transparency and efficiency of some work processes and huge advances in
basically all fields of sciences. While the benefits of the IT revolution are
many, the human race is being unconsciously changed in ways which are not necessarily
beneficial. Impatience is on the increase as people become used to instant
solutions. Engineers program social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram etc
and mobile applications such as WhatsApp in ways that make them addictive while
video sharing sites such as YouTube, study your viewing habits and suggest
videos with the goal of keeping you on their platform as long as possible. The
overall impact of using these tools without any discipline in most cases
includes:
·
Procrastination. Recently I set a goal
for accomplishing some written work within three to 4 hours but then decided to
check out 1 video that popped up on my Amazon account first. This video was pretty short and that’s how
they got me. It turned out to be part of a series and even though I have a rule
never to watch any series I broke my more than maybe 10 years rule. I got
carried away in the series and before I knew what was happening, my precious 4
hours were gone forever. Everything else I had to do was affected. What did I
gain from watching those videos? Nothing! Absolutely nothing except getting my
adrenaline up. I got caught in the web by taking the bait on that first video.
My ability to meditate and pray efficiently, sleep well and exercise were all
impacted negatively as I was basically left feeling exhausted, empty and ineffective.
·
Unaccomplished goals. Effective self-leadership
is dependent on discipline and good time management. We need time to change habits,
develop new competences, learn new things, rest appropriately, exercise, meet
friends etc. This precious commodity can either be used in activities that help
you meet your goals or not. A life of indiscipline will have dire consequences
with regards to your ability to accomplish your goals. How often do you set
goals that you really feel good about but somehow ended up not accomplishing
anything?
·
Poor self-image. A lack of discipline can
lead to you feeling very insufficient and developing a poor self-image.
Accomplishing goals on the other hand, is mentally rewarding. Think about how
you feel about yourself as a bank account. When you walk in discipline that’s a
huge deposit in your self-image account. The deposits you make, the better you
feel about yourself. It has been proven that people who spend too much time on
social media can become depressive which in certain cases may lead to suicidal
thoughts. A lack in discipline regarding eating and exercise for example will likely
have serious negative consequences on your health which will in turn impact how
you see yourself.
These are not the only
negative effects of a lack of discipline in the life of a servant leader.
Giving in to seemingly “innocent activities”, will dig seriously into your time
and impact your ability to execute your goals. There is hope even if you have
failed in this domain multiple times. Discipline represents your ability to stay
on track and act according to your values with a mind that is set on the
mission. Discipline does not mean, you are counting on your strength, it rather
means you are determined to walk in obedience to God as a true disciple that is
willing to let their light shine. It is about doing the right things in order
to get where you are supposed to go.
Do you walk in discipline?
1.
Does God dominate every aspect of your life? Jesus was
asked what the most important commandment was, and He responded by asking those
present to love God with all their hearts, souls and being as well as loving
their neighbors as themselves. As Servant Leaders therefore, the love for God
should dominate every aspect (at work, home, etc.) of our lives. The implication
is that there is never a time when you should not be manifesting your identity
and love for God. This is in addition to having a love for people which is
comparable to loving yourself. If some of the decisions you make in life are
not guided by what the mind of God is, go to God in prayer now and ask him for
help.
2.
Are your goals accessible and do you have a fixed time
to review progress made? You may have written your goals but if they are not in
a format that you can easily access and review, you may possibly forget about
them and get caught up in the daily grind of life. Goals will give you prayer
topics that you can share with someone close. It is important in some cases to
have someone who can help hold you accountable.
3.
Have you identified the activities that easily take
away a big chunk out of your time? How can you redeem that time from those
activities to invest in more wholesome activities? Identifying activities which
are of a non-urgent and not important nature is good but you must take
practical steps to help you roll back from spending time doing them. One of the
things that helps me is a focus on the truly important things. Think about
where you would like to be as an individual in the next 5-10 years and start
doing something about it now.
4.
Do you consistently spend ample time in private prayer,
meditation and worship? Nothing can replace the grace received from spending
time in talking to God. When you spend time rubbing yourself with God’s
presence, there are certain, tastes, thoughts and commitments that will drop
off as you forge your walk as a disciplined Servant Leader.
5.
Have you assigned time to your different goals? Do you
know approximately how long it will take to complete different aspects? We saw
earlier that joy and fruitfulness are the results of a life lived out in
discipline. Leaders need to train themselves to manage their appetites (self-control)
and be consistent in sowing good seeds through discipline into their life. This
requires time, repetition and a willingness to change. It is not a passive process
where you sit and do nothing.
6.
Let’s be honest are you complacent? The easiest thing
anyone on earth can do is to give an excuse. Excuses are cheap! How often do
you hear phrases such as:
·
“everyone is doing it”;
·
“somehow, I forgot”;
·
“why do I have to beat myself so hard”;
·
“I just need a pass, an average, nothing more.
Man has been endowed by God with so much potential, but
many do die without accomplishing their purpose because of the big C
(complacency). We somehow feel time is unlimited and that we have all the time
in the world to sort ourselves out and slowly cruise through life. We spend
hours on end in the non-essentials (quadrant 3 and 4 activities) and very
little time actually doing those things that really matter. Show me someone
that is bearing much fruitful and I will show you a person who has discovered
the secret of investing their time wisely. A complacent athlete, team,
student, husband, wife, leader is guaranteed failure. Do not be complacent,
take ownership of your fruitfulness by investing your time wisely in the
activities that will help you accomplish your desired goals.
Building discipline
Some practical steps a
leader needs to take to walk in discipline include;
1. Submit
every aspect of your life to God and apply kingdom values everywhere - Consistency
in seeking to live out your identity as an Ambassador of Jesus in all your
different spheres of influence, will help you walk in discipline.
2. See
time as a scarce resource over which you have been made a steward - Unless
you change your mind set on how you view time, this precious resource can be
misused. As a steward of time, you are aware of the brevity of your life and
the importance of this gift which God gives daily, for proper management. Your
stewardship of time will be evaluated so take out the time wasters and focus on
those things that build you, your family, the Kingdom of God, your team and the
community.
3. Be
purpose minded – Make your life mission, visions and goals clear and
accessible. You need to have them handy somewhere for a quick review. The more
you live a life of purpose, the more you become disciplined. Making your goals
accessible will put pressure on you to do something about it. Determination
will be further ignited as you start seeing results.
4. Identify
your fears and limitations – Sometimes a lack of discipline just hides
fears and limitations. A servant leader in addition to a strong biblical
identity needs to have a healthy personal security which grows as your intimacy
with God does. You may be afraid of the perceptions of others and of failing so
you prefer to choose the road of least resistance. What are your fears? Identify
them and commit them to the Lord in prayer. Scriptures remind us fear is the
absence of faith. Faith tells us to act while fears deform who you are,
limiting your potential. Pray as well as work on your fears and limitations. If
public speaking is an issue for you for example, learn how to speak better and
practice frequently. With time, you will notice that you may actually have a
gift of public speaking that just needed to be ignited and fanned.
5. Train
your appetites – Do not be controlled by anything be it technology, food,
money, women, men or anything else. If you do not train your appetites, they
may lead to your destruction. A person who does not train their appetite when
it comes to food, may end up being obese which can lead to chronic health problems.
The same is true with someone who does not train their appetite regarding the
use of social media, money etc. The only thing you should consume without limitation
is God’s word!
6. Constantly
evaluate yourself – Evaluation helps you confirm progress, identify lapses
as well as subjects of praise. Without consistently carrying out an honest
evaluation, you may not be motivated to change. Establish a plan for evaluating
yourself regarding progress that is being made in the different aspects you
have goals for.
These steps are not exhaustive
but represent a template from which you can draw inspiration to motivate
yourself to sow into discipline. My prayer for you is that you will experience abundant
good fruit and joy as you seek to consistently walk in discipline.
Assignment 17
1. Share your weekly plan for
next week (5 days) with a course mate (pairs will be constituted by mentors). Your
peer will make suggestions regarding your planning as well as evaluate you at
the end of the 5 days period. Write a short report for your peer showing where
they did well and how they can do better. What did you learn about your peer?
2. Pick two 1-hour periods during
the day for 3 days of this week. During those days, discipline yourself to use
social media only during the two 1-hour periods. For example, I can pick 7-8am
ad 9-10 pm and Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. These days and times will be
the only time I will use or check WhatsApp, YouTube or any other social media
sites. Write a short paragraph on the time slots and days you selected, your
challenges and how you were able to overcome them. How did you feel?
3. Research using both
YouTube and Google on a subject that you currently know either little or
nothing about. Write 3 things you learned about your topic. Post it on your
blog and share it with the peer you were paired with in exercise 1.
4. Write a brief summary of what you learned this week and explain why it is important for all leaders. Post on your blog and share the link in your group.
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