It Takes Discipline To Run This Race
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Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
It takes discipline to run this race.
It takes discipline to run this race.
Paul in his address to the Corinthian church speaks first of all of himself. He likens the christian walk with that of running a race. The first point he makes is:
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
In a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize. One person gets the trophy, one person gets the medal, one person gets first place. Even though in this race, this Christian race, everyone who runs and crosses the finish line is a winner, yet Paul says “run, that ye may obtain” or “run in such a way that you may win”. This means that you are not just going to go through the motions in order to run the race, it means that you have a determination not to just run, but run this race the best way you can run......and run to win!!! Repeat that “Run to Win”!!! Listen to what Paul says in the next verse:
Secondly, Paul says in verse 25:
And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
Let’s break down the first part:
Every man that striveth. The word striveth (agonizamai) means to contend, fight with, struggle against earnestly. Striveth for the mastery, strives for the mastery of the event, strive to place in the event. The question becomes who does the man strive against. The answer is that the man strives against other contestants, however before you strive against a contestant, one must strive against themselves! Strive against self before others. That’s called discipline!
Paul says in essence “All athletes are disciplined in their training.”
You have to discipline yourself in order to run this race.
You have to discipline yourself in order to run this race.
An athlete before he can even enter the race, before they can even enter a sport must first learn to discipline themselves. If you are going to win, it is going to take discipline to win. My daughter attempted to go out for track last year. I tried to coach her up and help her with achieving the correct mindset. I told her, that if you are going to be good, you can’t wait until you get to practice to do practice. You need to discipline yourself and prepare and train outside of your normal practice.
When you don’t have practice it doesn’t mean you get a free pass, you train. Even if it isn’t track season you train and get yourself ready for the season so that you can have the edge on your opponent. Same thing with baseball, in off season you go to the batting cage, you find ways to hone in your skill. It takes discipline to do that, it takes dedication, and your mind has to be right. So is it with anything in life, any goal that you set out to do in life. Paul is giving some good practical lessons on how to achieve goals from a biblical perspective and one of the first things that you need to have in order to achieve goals is discipline.
Discipline is instruction. The bible has only one occurence of the word discipline (Job 36:10). Yet the theme of discipline is written all throughout the Bible. Initially, a person does not have the ability to discipline themselves, it is a learned behavior or a process in which one has to be trained over and over again in order to learn disciplined habits that would benefit them in achieving their goals.
In other-words we first need to understand that as saints of God, we are all enrolled into a spiritual race. What is this purpose of this race, what is the goal of this race, and what is the prize? As Christians, we are striving to run in this race of life, with the ultimate goal to come to the end of life, maintain a relationship with God, and ultimately receive the crown of life:
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
If you know anything about running, running is one of the hardest sports or activities that an individual can do for themselves. With some people, they need motivation in order to run, they need someone to encourage them and push them to stick with the discipline of running because, running is a discipline and truth be known your body does not want to run!
Your flesh, your carnal mind, your human nature does not want to run this race. Why? Because it is a hard race sometimes. There are a lot of concessions in this race and your flesh is gonna want to do things its way. The Bible says:
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
So to run in this race, the first thing that has to be addressed is the mind. Because of you can get your mind right!?!?! The body will follow, if you can get your mind to submit, your body will fall in line! Naturally speaking, if you plan on accomplishing any goal.....you’ve got to have your mind right!
This is where the need for external motivation comes in. You can discipline yourself, but initially you can only carry yourself so for. You need the assistance of someone that can get you to that next level!
God also disciplines us in order for us to run this race as well.
God also disciplines us in order for us to run this race as well.
(use examples of wrestling, baseball, basketball, and football) (Military discipline)
When you initially sign up for anything, you are usually not in shape and you do not have the right frame of mind to participate or compete. This is where discipline comes in, you are disciplined so that you can have the right physical attributes and abilities to participate in a certain sport. I participated in baseball, wrestling, and basketball growing up. I was a team captain in both baseball and wrestling. I remember when I first went out for wrestling, man…our wrestling coach tried to kill us it seemed like. We would do laps around the gym, push ups until our arms hurt, sit ups until we were ready to puke. My 8th grade year I was good enough to be on William Flemings JV wrestling team, and Coach Killa Miller.....that guy use to destroy us.
What I did not understand was that he was disciplining us to make us better! That discipline that our coaches enforced was to train our muscles and minds to withstand the rigors of wrestling, the rigors of the sports that we played. I experienced the same in the military.
In the military, they have to break you down and build you back up again. Physically speaking, you have to be in some type of shape to be in the military. Not only physically but also mentally. If you went in and was a momma’s boy, they’d hone in on you because they didn’t want no soft sailor that we start crying when things got difficult and walk off and quit and then leave the rest of your shipmates hanging causing them to possibly lose their life. You had to toughen up, you had to take the punishment that was dealt to you.
To be in God’s army, to be a soldier in the army of the Lord.....God has a way of breaking you down and building you back up again. He has a way of disciplining us. My coaches, my drill instructor they disciplined me, not because they hated me, not because they were mad at me, but they did it to make me a better person, they did it to make me stronger, they did it so that I could compete, they did it so that when things got hectic, if war broke out, if something happened on the ship, I wouldn’t panic but I could work under pressure and get the job done.
God disciplines us because he wants to make us better! God disciplines us because there are things in us that needs to come out of us! God disciplines us so that we can make it and share in His holiness!
And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
God disciplines us. When God disciplines you he does it because He loves you, he does it because he wants what’s best for you! When God disciplines us it is not because he is mad. But rather he does it because he wants you to make it! He wants you to run this race and win in the end!
How does God discipline us?
Our reaction to discipline? Our reaction should be “not to despise discipline”.
Paul makes a quote of the Old Testament scripture at the end of Hebrews 12:5 and says “My, son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou are rebuked of him:”.
Some of the members of the early church could not understand why they were going through such intense trials and tests of faith. They were being persecuted outside the church, inside the church, in their community, sometimes even within family members. Some were being arrested, some killed, some made outcasts in their community....but Paul writes to them and encourages them not to faint, don’t give up!
Sometimes God has to discipline us because we aren’t where we ought to be in the Lord. Sometimes God discipline us to make our faith stronger. Just like that old drill sergeant that screams at you and tells you to push the building six feet under......you don’t have any strength in your arms and you are ready to give up.....but he has a way of pulling one more push up out of you! That’s what happens when the storm of life hits us from time to time and when you feel like giving up, when you feel like quitting, when you feel like walking off the course, turning your number in and saying I quit.....the Holy Ghost will motivate you, the Holy Ghost will cheer you on, the Holy Ghost will tell you....don’t quit now....I’m with you.....don’t quit now....you got one more in you, don’t quit now.....you’re close to your breakthrough......don’t quit now.....the finish line is in view!
What good comes from discipline?
What good comes from discipline?
The fruit of discipline is knowledge:
The fruit of discipline is knowledge:
To learn, you must love discipline;
it is stupid to hate correction.
Makes a parent proud, it makes God proud because you learn from your discipline.
Makes a parent proud, it makes God proud because you learn from your discipline.
Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.
It makes a parent proud when they see that their child heeded and learned from the discipline that their child received. It makes God proud, when you receive discipline and it makes you a better person, it causes you to walk in the will and way of God.
Discipline will save your life:
Discipline will save your life:
Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.
But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
Discipline identifies you as God’s children:
Discipline identifies you as God’s children:
If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Discipline produces a peaceful harvest of right living.
Discipline produces a peaceful harvest of right living.
No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.