The Race
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Introduction
Introduction
Sister training in Gymnastics- the purpose, the vision, the product.
The short change of a promise.
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
Paul is using athletics as an example knowing the church in Corinth would be very familiar...
Corinth was home to the Greek olympic games as well as their very own Isthmian Games. Competition was cultural.
Within this passage, we see Paul referring to a characteristic that is the core of His intentional point...
Discipline/Self-Control
25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
Remember, athlete is the example, christian is the reality here...
What does it mean to be disciplined?
Discipline means giving up the good and the better for the best.
Discipline means giving up the good and the better for the best.
I think what Warren Wiersbe says is enlightening...
“The athlete must watch his diet as well as his hours. he must smile and say, ‘No, thank you’ when people offer him fattening desserts or invite him to late-night parties. There is nothing wrong with food or fun, but if they interfere with your highest goals, then they are hinderances and not helps.” - Warren Wiersbe
“The athlete must watch his diet as well as his hours. he must smile and say, ‘No, thank you’ when people offer him fattening desserts or invite him to late-night parties. There is nothing wrong with food or fun, but if they interfere with your highest goals, then they are hinderances and not helps.” - Warren Wiersbe
Only Greeks could participate in their games...
They had to train and race according to the rules, anyone found breaking the rules was automatically disqualified.
What does this mean for the everyday Christian?
This means there are things we have to sacrifice, avoid, and give-up to ensure that we live to fulfill God’s call upon our lives… Even things that aren’t bad....
Some of these things might be...
Social Media
Friend Groups
Late Night Parties
Relationships
Eating Habits or Dietary Addictions
TV/Netflix/Youtube
Privacy
What might you need to consider limiting or sacrificing for the sake of discipline?
Know that this is not something anyone has mastered, but something we should all work toward...
Scripture actually has a lot to say about discipline!
11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
28 A man without self-control
is like a city broken into and left without walls.
12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
We grasp the need for discipline- that we might run this race efficiently and effectively. But what are we racing for??
Although this is a common understanding of this passage, we are not racing in order to get to heaven- your eternity does not depend on your performance in the race.
The day you place your faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, you have entered the race.
You are actually running for what Paul calls, “The Imperishable Crown.”
This is to describe the reward that is in heaven, not heaven itself- one that never fades or perishes, but one that is everlasting.
A final, “well done thy good and faithful servant.”