Do you ever think about all the potential God put inside you and feel like you have the capacity to grow and produce so much more than you are now? You know you can do more for God, for yourself, and for others, but how do you begin to develop and bring out that potential?

It starts with discipline and self-control. Proverbs 25:28 says, “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.” When an enemy saw a city with strong walls, it meant that the strong people inside who built the walls would not be defeated. When you have a strong inner man, you can produce a strong outer man. Today, your discipline and self-control represent strength in your life that doesn’t leave you exposed to the enemy’s tactics—the temptations, the deceptions to get you off course. When you rule over your spirit, which is your inner man, you are strong. You can resist.

The apostle Paul describes our problem in Romans 7:22–23: “For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity”—the flesh, which represents our self-will to have our own way, to not live under control, to follow our emotions and thoughts. The flesh wants to do whatever you feel like, the easiest thing, to spend money you don’t have, to eat whatever you want, to say whatever you think.

But you have to say, “No, I’m not going to let the flesh run my life. I will put it under control with my strong spirit man.” Discipline and self-control are the tools that God gave you to succeed and to reach your full potential. Discipline says, “I will be productive. I have goals to reach and skills to develop. I will budget my money, eat right, rest right, and exercise right. I will study God’s Word so I know His thoughts and walk in His way.” Every time you choose discipline and self-control, you say no to the enemy. You’re building strong walls.

Hebrews 12:11 says, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace.” Discipline builds up the eternal, the important things in your life. Perhaps you need to identify a few areas of your life that need to be strengthened. Maybe you need to stop doing some things that keep you weak or to let go of a few people who are breaking down your inner strength. Maybe you just need to focus and let self-control and discipline bring a great harvest in your life!