I discipline my body and keep it under control. 1 Corinthians 9:27 esv
It was June 2016 during the official celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s ninetieth birthday. From her carriage, the monarch waved to the crowds, passing in front of long lines of red-coated soldiers standing at perfect, unflinching attention. It was a warm day in England, and the guards were dressed in their traditional dark wool pants, wool jackets buttoned to the chin, and massive bear-fur hats. As the soldiers stood in rigid rows under the sun, one guard began to faint. Remarkably, he maintained his strict control and simply fell forward, his body remaining straight as a board as he planted his face in the sandy gravel. There he lay—somehow still at attention.
It took years of practice and discipline for this guard to learn such self-control, to hold his body in place even as he was falling unconscious. The apostle Paul describes such training: “I discipline my body and keep it under control,” he wrote (1 Corinthians 9:27 esv). Paul recognized that “everyone who competes . . . goes into strict training” (v. 25).
While God’s grace (not our efforts) undergirds all we do, our spiritual life deserves rigorous discipline. As God helps us discipline our mind, heart, and body, we learn to keep our attention fixed on Him, even amid trials or distractions.
Where is it most difficult for you to discipline your heart, mind, or body? How do you sense God inviting you into deeper discipline?
Dear God, please teach me how to be more disciplined for You. I want to grow my love for You and keep my heart close to You.
For further study, read The Sword, The Son, and a Rest for God’s People.
INSIGHT
Paul’s original audience would have immediately resonated with his sports metaphors. Corinth hosted the Isthmian games on the years before and after the Olympic games. The athletes who competed were required by the rules to train for a minimum of ten months. Failing to do so would disqualify them entirely.
In his letter to the Corinthian believers in Jesus, the apostle exhorts them to live with the same kind of discipline that an athlete would have (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)—not to compete in the games but to live faithfully in the example of Christ (Hebrews 12:1-3). He’s not pitting them against each other like the games would, but he does call them to the same level of commitment in following Jesus. Instead of ten months, though, the life of the believer in Him calls us to a lifetime of growing discipline aimed at walking in His footsteps and ultimately sharing in His prize (2 Thessalonians 2:14).