“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) And,
“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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