Balancing Life's Demands - How to Put First Things First, Part 2

Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram Daily Podcast

Living on the Edge

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.9 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 7 August 2025

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

There are three words that can liberate you from the tyranny of the urgent. Three words that can help you regain control of your life. Three words that will reduce your stress and increase your joy. Join Chip to find out what those three words are.

Three reasons why most of us live with two sets of priorities:

We are DECEIVED. We honestly don't see the discrepancy between what we think and say, and how we actually live.
We are AFRAID. Though we long to put "first things first," we simply do not believe that God will supply our needs if we give Him the first portion of our time, our lives, and our money.
We have FAILED repeatedly. Our sincere and honest efforts to put "first things first" in the past lasted only a short time and ended with frustration and disillusionment with ourselves.

So, what’s the “Missing Ingredient” to living out our priorities?

It's a RARELY USED word.
It's a FRUIT of the Spirit.
It comes to us by GRACE.
We ADMIRE it in others.
It's ESSENTIAL for putting "first things first."

The Word = DISCIPLINE / SELF CONTROL

Definition: Discipline is doing what needs to be done when it needs to be done.

The Dynamics of Biblical Discipline Can Be Summed Up in 2 Words:

DELAYED GRATIFICATION - Hebrews 12:11

The Method of Developing Biblical Discipline Can Be Summed Up in 3 Words:

ADVANCED DECISION-MAKING - 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

How Does It Work?

Advanced Decision Making begins with CLEAR–CUT OBJECTIVES.
Advanced Decision Making is reinforced by REWARDING ALONG the WAY.
Advanced Decision Making becomes a personal conviction when you PONDER the CONSEQUENCES.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	There are three words that have the power to release you from the grip of the urgent.
0:06.2	There's three words that contain the key to you experiencing more and more of what God wants
0:11.3	for you. These three words could liberate you. They could help you keep your commitments to
0:15.9	God. Would you like to know what these three words are? Well, stay with me. That's today.
0:22.0	Thanks for listening to this edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We are an
0:27.2	international teaching and discipleship ministry that encourages and equips Christians to live
0:32.3	like Christians. Well, today, Chip continues a series balancing life's demands with more on how to put the first
0:38.7	things first in our lives. A lot of insight to get to, so go in your Bible again to Hebrews
0:43.7	Chapter 12 as we join Chip for the remainder of his message. Delayed gratification, if that's
0:50.4	the key, how do you develop it in your life? And the method of developing biblical discipline can be summed up in three words. Discipline is two words, delay gratification. How you get it, the process of developing it. You say to yourself, what's the training? Where's the magazine that says if I run, you know, jog a little bit, and then the next week I actually try and jog a mile,
1:11.0	and then after that I go.
1:11.9	And how does that happen?
1:13.8	And you're going to see it right out of Scripture.
1:15.8	The three key words are advance decision making.
1:19.8	The key to delay gratification.
1:22.3	If you are at the window and the moment where you know you need to delay your gratification, and you
1:28.5	haven't pre-decided what you're going to do in that moment, about 95% of the time, you will do
1:33.2	what you don't want to do. Let me give you a biblical example. And if you have your pen or pencil,
1:41.1	pull it out, because I want you to circle, do a little Bible study. You're going to see something very interesting about what the Apostle Paul does. Now remember, I mean, this is a godly, godly man. 13 books of the New Testament he writes. So I want to give you a little content. I mean, this is a guy who God is greatly, greatly used. But listen to some of his fears in his life. He's writing to the
2:03.2	Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 9. He says, do you not know that those who run in a race all run,
2:09.0	but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way, that's a manner of living, that you may
2:15.7	win, circle the word win.
	...

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