Self-discipline - Amnon

These are the sons of David who were born in Hebron: The oldest was Amnon, whose mother was Ahinoam from Jezreel.

1 Chronicles 3:1

You might not like hearing this if you’re trying to lose a few pounds, but the consensus among experts in the field of weight loss and fitness is that the key to losing weight is self-discipline. As one specialist put it, “Show me an individual who has lost weight and is successfully keeping it off and I guarantee that individual is practicing self-discipline.”

Self-discipline is vital to success in any area of your life—family, business, or the spiritual.

Sadly, many gifted people fail to achieve all they could because they lack self-discipline. There are few better biblical examples of this than Amnon, King David’s first son.

Talk about a pedigree! As the first son of Israel’s greatest king and heir apparent to the throne, Amnon could have accomplished great things for God and his people.

Sadly, Amnon is relegated to the “Where did they end up?” file of Bible characters because he lacked self-discipline.

Amnon sealed his fate when he looked lustfully at his beautiful half-sister Tamar. The Law of God specifically forbade such behavior and laid out harsh penalties for those who did such things. Amnon forced himself on Tamar, then had her removed from his home (see 2 Samuel 13:1-19). That led to Amnon’s murder by his outraged and vengeful brother Absalom.

All of this happened within the family of Israel’s greatest king!

Self-discipline and a deep, abiding love of God are prominent qualities of any true man of God. Amnon had neither, so his life was cut tragically short before he could do anything of note for God or his people.

God has given you the talents and gifts you need to do great things for him in every area of our life. You can accomplish those things through a combination of personal faith, obedience, and self-discipline. That’s a recipe the devil can’t beat!