Tag Archives: discipline your body

February 16, 2024 · 5:16 AM

Disciplining Your Flesh

I used to hate the start of basketball season at school. I loved to play, but the training for it killed me every year. I would go home and soak in the tub because my body was so sore. Over the summer, I would become undisciplined with my exercises and I would pay the price that week. Once I had conditioned my body I was good. The Bible talks about this kind of discipline in 1 Corinthians 9:27. Paul said that he had to discipline his body to keep it under control. It’s not an easy task to discipline your body or flesh, but it’s something we must do as believers. Fasting is one way to bring it under discipline. Having an accountability partner is another one. We discipline our flesh so our spirit can thrive. What parts of your flesh do you need to discipline? It won’t be easy at first, maybe even painful, but keep at it and seek God’s strength.

Here are some Bible verses on areas we need to discipline.

1. Do not let unwholesome [foul, profane, worthless, vulgar] words ever come out of your mouth, but only such speech as is good for building up others, according to the need and the occasion, so that it will be a blessing to those who hear [you speak].

Ephesians 4:29 AMP

2. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2 ESV

3. Plan carefully what you do, and whatever you do will turn out right.

Proverbs 4:26 GNT

4. We look away from the natural realm and we focus our attention and expectation onto Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection. His example is this: Because his heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be his, he endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation, and now sits exalted at the right hand of the throne of God!

Hebrews 12:2 TPT

5. Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value].

Colossians 3:2 AMP

Photo by SwapnIl Dwivedi on Unsplash

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July 27, 2022 · 5:44 AM

Run To Win

I live in an area that has annual marathons and Iron Man competitions. They shut down major thoroughfares so that these athletes can compete and push themselves. I’ve enjoyed going to the events to cheer on people as they run past me. I’ve even been to the finish line at the final hour of the day as the Iron Man athletes finished their race. Aside from the traffic, you can always tell when one of these races are happening. At restaurants and stores, there are tons of people walking around with well deserved medals around their necks that say, “Finisher”. I try to congratulate them when I see them. They worked hard, trained, showed up, competed and ran their race. After all these years, I’ve never seen a medal that says, “Winner”. Only one person gets to wear that one.

In today’s world, we have apps and coaches that can help you finish the race. That’s what most people train for. They want to say they ran the course and finished the race. In Biblical times, they didn’t have those things, nor did they give out awards for finishers. Only one person won the wreath. Only one person was recognized for their efforts. Because of that, people ran in the races in order to win, not just finish. There’s a different type of training involved when you’re running to win versus running to finish. There’s another level of intensity involved when it comes to the mindset of winning. It takes greater discipline and focus when you train to win. That’s the type of life you and I are called to live.

1 Corinthians 9:24 says, “Surely you know that many runners take part in a race, but only one of them wins the prize. Run, then, in such a way as to win the prize” (GNT). In your Christian life, have you been running in order to finish or to win? Have you just been doing what it takes to get by? We live in a time where we must have the mindset that we’re running to win. We have to discipline our body, mind and spirit in such a manner that we are running to win this race. There’s another gear inside you that you haven’t used yet. As Philippians 3:14 says, we must press on towards the mark for the high calling of God. We are called to run as though we were going to win. It’s time to find that next gear and go!

Photo by Mārtiņš Zemlickis on Unsplash

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