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But he withdrew to desolate places and prayed.
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Today’s message
I know why it is hard for you to be disciplined. And it's not due to a lack of schedule or app. It's because you have bought some lies, lost your first love, and stopped acting in faith. Jesus, our model, did not live pushed by the will of the moment. He formed habits. If you want to be a copy of Jesus, you need to face discipline not as a prison, but as a path to freedom. Being free is not doing what you want. It is doing what needs to be done, consistently.
Look at Jesus. Luke records: he withdrew to the wilderness and prayed. Habit. In another scene, he entered the synagogue, according to his custom. Habit. In the desert, for forty days, filled with the Spirit, he fasted and overcame temptation. Habit sustained by love for the Father and obedient faith. Discipline, for Jesus, was a space of communion, not punishment. When this lens changes, the practice changes: the will stops commanding and the routine begins to serve the purpose of resembling Christ.
Enemies of discipline
- Sophisms: associating discipline with punishment, boring matter, or prison — and fleeing from it.
- Lack of love: we prioritize what we love; if I do not prioritize God, I love something else more.
- Lack of faith: understanding without acting is not faith; those who believe move the agenda and the body.
I want to guide you on the simple path. Nothing miraculous, just direction and consistency. First, see the target. Then, translate that target into concrete habits. Finally, start small, one at a time, until it becomes part of who you are. This is how grace will shape your daily life. The revolution of the little wins over the tyranny of impulse. Spiritual success does not spring from flashes of strength, but from the daily sum of your habits.
Discipline is freedom.
Practical tips to start being disciplined
- Have the final vision: I want to resemble Christ, this is the north.
- List the habits that form Christ in you: prayer, Word, fasting, fellowship, serving.
- Start with one habit: 30 days, 15 minutes daily, until it feels natural.
Implementation plan
- Choose one habit per month and name it (e.g., month of prayer, 15 minutes/day).
- Set a time and routine: alarm, timer, write it down and keep it visible.
- Consolidated? Start the next one (e.g., Bible reading 20 minutes/day at lunch).
Now, adjust your heart. Repent for loving other things more than the Lord and ask the Spirit to rekindle the first love. Pray for faith that acts. Then, move. Discipline is freedom: when you order the day around God, idols lose strength and the soul breathes. A month of simple faithfulness changes more than grand promises. You are being transformed — into Christ or into something you do not want. Choose today the direction.
Did you know
- In first-century synagogues, it was customary to read the Torah and the Prophets publicly, a practice reflected in Luke 4:16.
- Jesus' 40 days of fasting echo Moses (Exodus 34:28) and Elijah (1 Kings 19:8), marking decisive encounters with God.
- In Judaism, talmidim were disciples who followed a rabbi to learn and imitate his life and habits.
Key phrases
- Jesus was a disciplined man.
- Discipline is freedom.
- Success is the result of your habits, not your discipline.
- Great results reflect the sum of small actions taken every day.
Translated from the Portuguese original.
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The Secret to Being Constant and Disciplined | Talmidim with Douglas Gonçalves
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