A Disciplined Lifestyle
by Dr. John Tetsola

But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
1 Corinthians 9:27

Focused vision produces discipline. True knowledge and consciousness of your vision helps to harness and discipline you from being distracted and sidetracked. When you lack focused vision, you lack discipline. Always look at people who have a discipline problem corporately in a church or in their personal lives. You will find a common thread that runs and that is problems with focused vision. Corporately they may not yet be sold out to the vision of a house because it is not clear to them, or they just don't want to embrace it. Individually, they may not know what vision is, how to pursue it, or they may just not want to embrace it. Whenever you have problems with vision, you will have problems with discipline. Self and corporate discipline in our lives is tied to our ability to be fixed or remain fixed on a target of pursuit.

The Legalism of Focus

If you have a discipline problem, that is because you don't have focused vision. If you try to create discipline without focused vision, you will have legalism and bondage problems. You don't get discipline before vision. You get vision first, and vision has the potential and the ability to release discipline in you, in a church and a team. Discipline is simply a reason given to do something. That is the reason you are doing what you are doing, because it will produce something.

Because something is desirable to us, in order to see that thing happen in our lives we automatically, without being told, develop discipline. To an athlete it is a gold medal. That is why he is not eating all of the chocolate cake he sees. That is why he will get his rear end out of bed on a cold, freezing, rainy winter day and run. It is not because he likes it. It is because he wants that gold medal.

Having a Reason to Perform

Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
Hebrews 11:25

Focused vision will give you a reason to do what you need to do. It will release and produce joy in you for something nobody else would ever be joyful in doing, in order for you to do the things God has called you to do. Focused vision will give you a reason to stay married, a reason to stay loyal and faithful, a reason to give your finances and sacrifice your time in the kingdom of God. When you have a reason to do a thing because of the unveiling of vision, the joy and the discipline to constantly accomplish it is released in you. Focused vision helped Moses live for the eternal.

Overcoming Fear

Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
Hebrews 11:25

Focused vision will help you overcome fear. People who cannot make hard choices lack focus because they are afraid. "I can't, I can't" is what they constantly say. They don't have anything bigger in the future, so they cannot make tough choices. When you have a vision, when you have something bigger in the future, when you dream of something in your life, you will always be willing to risk and make tough and hard choices, even if these choices affect you painfully, whether in finances, in relocation, in the choice of who you marry, in choosing a school for your children, in purchasing a home, or in savings and investment.

But when you lack focused vision, you are always afraid, intimidated, nervous and panicking to make any advancement and change in your life, because you don't have anything bigger in your future. 

by Dr. John A.Tetsola