Many Christians struggle with spiritual discipline. We want to grow spiritually, but daily consistency can feel difficult. The Bible makes it clear that spiritual growth requires intentional effort.
“I’ll skip prayer today. I’ll read tomorrow. I’m too tired to serve. I deserve a break.”
The Danger of Spiritual Laziness
We rarely say it out loud — but we think it. Spiritual laziness doesn’t announce itself boldly. It whispers. It negotiates. It persuades us that easing off just a little won’t matter. But it does.
Achievements and success rarely fall into your lap. And when they do, they are often undervalued and quickly lost. Easy come — easy go.
Spiritual strength is no different. It does not drift into your life. It is pursued. It is fought for. It is cultivated.
Does that surprise you? Have you assumed that thriving as a Christian would be effortless — a gentle stroll through life with occasional inspiration along the way?
Nothing could be further from the truth.
What Jesus Said About Self-Denial
The Lord Jesus said it plainly:
“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” — Luke 9:23
Daily. Deny yourself. Take up your cross. Follow. That is not passive language. That is deliberate surrender.
If you want to lead a successful corporation, you arrive early and leave late. If you want to win Olympic gold, you submit to relentless training, sacrificing comfort, leisure, and sometimes even relationships.
And yet we expect spiritual maturity to happen accidentally or serendipitously?
So if my Christian life feels thin… if my joy feels shallow… if my usefulness feels small — I need to ask myself honestly: how much deliberate effort am I putting into it?
Paul’s Discipline Behind the Scenes
Listen to how the Apostle Paul described his own private discipline behind the scenes:
Do you remember how, on a racing-track, every competitor runs, but only one wins the prize?
Well, you ought to run with your minds fixed on winning the prize!
Every competitor in athletic events goes into serious training.
Athletes will take tremendous pains — for a fading crown of leaves.
But our contest is for an eternal crown that will never fade.
I run the race then with determination. I am no shadow-boxer, I really fight!
I am my body’s sternest master,
for fear that when I have preached to others I should myself be disqualified.
— 1 Corinthians 9:24–27 (J.B. Phillips)
Can you almost see Paul at the start of a new day?
“No, I will not give in to myself. This is not about me. This is about the Lord.”
When insulted, he restrained himself. When tempted, he refused himself. When weary, he disciplined himself.
This was not self-salvation. It was a Spirit-empowered effort. Not performative to earn God’s favour — but responding to it. Paul was not drifting toward holiness. He was pursuing it. He did not coast toward usefulness. He fought for it.
And he was not alone.
Daniel: Strength Built in Private
Think of Daniel. When the decree forbade prayer, Daniel did not suddenly become devoted. He simply continued as he always had — praying three times a day. The lions’ den did not create his discipline; it revealed it. Long before the crisis came, he had purposed in his heart. His strength in public danger was built in private routine.
Daniel did not drift into faithfulness. He structured it.
Samson: Strength Lost Through Drift
And then there was Samson. Gifted. Chosen. Empowered by God. But undisciplined. He toyed with temptation. He fed his impulses. He presumed upon God’s strength — until one day he “wist not that the LORD was departed from him.”
Samson did not collapse in a moment. He eroded in private long before he fell in public. Strength without discipline is a slow leak.
Living a disciplined life requires holy resolve. It requires structure. It requires saying “no” to the flesh and “yes” to Christ — repeatedly.
Am I living intentionally? Or am I drifting?
How to Build Daily Spiritual Discipline
If your Christian life feels sloppy and joyless, do not wait for a feeling to rescue you. Bring structure into your life.
Write it down.
Your private time with God in Scripture and prayer. Remember it is the very Word of God you are reading – and it is totally reliable.
O thought, you see, you're just a thought,
You feel so real but you are not.
I have the Word for what is true.
I serve my God,
I don't serve you. - Sarah Sparks
Your fellowship with other believers.
Your responsibilities in the local assembly.
Your stewardship of work, leisure, and family.
Put it on paper. Lay it before the Lord. Review it on your knees. Ask for grace to follow through — rain or shine.
This is not mere self-mastery. It is surrender. It is denying yourself daily. It is taking up your cross and following Christ. It is yielding fully to the indwelling Spirit of God.
The crown is eternal.
The race is now.
Run to win.