Good Morning Friends,
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners
run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone
who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown
that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man
beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have
preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” (1
Corinthians 9:24-27)
Spiritual growth requires discipline. Paul
compares spiritual discipline to the discipline an athlete must have in order
to be able to compete at his most effective level. Even the most skilled and
most mature athlete diminishes his effectiveness when he does not have the
discipline to train like he should.
Spiritual discipline protects us. Without it
there is a danger that we will be disqualified from the prize. Peter makes the
same point in his second letter. He provides a list of qualities we are to
“make every effort” to add to our lives. He promises that if we will do that
“they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:8) “For if you do these things, you will
never fall.” (2 Peter 2:10)
Spiritual discipline protects us from falling
away from the Lord. Spiritual discipline increases our effectiveness in serving
Him. Those are two undeniable reasons for exercising discipline in our
spiritual lives.
His, by Grace, Steve
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