My Dearest Sister,
Have you ever felt like you were running through life as if it were a race? You are constantly sprinting toward the next goal, always focused on the task at hand. Sometimes though, you start to get tired and it seems like the race will never end. Each breath you take is labored and your legs are becoming weak. Finally, when you feel you can’t go another step, you stop running and collapse in a heap on the pavement, trying to catch your breath. You may be asking yourself what is wrong with you, why is this so difficult? You had felt perfectly capable of your ability to run the race just a few minutes ago. The air was crisp, and you were prepared for the challenge at hand – or so you thought. Instead, you feel defeated, like everything has been all messed up, and you’re not sure how to get up and keep running the race.
If you can relate at all to this situation, I have a scripture that I would like to share with you. In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Paul writes to the church at Corinth, describing life as like a race. We are all running and most of us want first place. However, there is a catch to doing well in this race. In verses 25-27 Paul says “And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things…. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” According to this passage, temperance – another word for self-control – is key to finishing well in this race of life. If we don’t have any discipline in our lives, not only is the opportunity to get first place gone, but we may as well consider ourselves disqualified altogether. Ouch! Unfortunately for you and I, self-control is one of those things that just doesn’t come naturally to most people. Our sinful human natures are all about gratifying the self and seeking pleasure in the moment. For the Christian though, having self-control means that the self is denied and worldly pleasures are given up to pursue something much greater. It means not thinking, saying, and doing things that are displeasing to God and actively thinking, saying, and doing the things that are pleasing to Him. Basically, being spiritually disciplined means following the rules that God has laid out for us, because it is not ourselves but He who knows what is best for us. It all sounds pretty basic in theory, but – as I’m sure we both know from personal experience – it is much harder to put into practice.
As I am reading Paul’s words about self-control, I have a picture in my mind of a professional marathon runner. If they are serious about their profession, they usually have a set of rules they follow consisting of things they should not do and things they should do. These athletes eat healthy diets and drink lots of water. They adhere to rigorous workout schedules and seek the advice of a personal trainer. They abstain things that are harmful to their performance such as sweets, fatty foods, and alcohol; They take what they do seriously and their eye is always on the prize. If marathon runners didn’t practice discipline and self-control in every area of their life, when it came time for a race they would become easily tired and finish at the back of the pack – or worse, not finish at all. Well, it is very much the same for a Christian. To run the spiritual race well, we must ingest the Word of God (Psalms 119:10-11) and thirst for the things that, like water, are good and pure (Phillipians 4:8). We have our very own personal trainer, the Holy Spirit, who helps us when we don’t know how and gives us the encouragement we need to keep running (Romans 8:26). We are to abstain from sin, which hinders our spiritual performance and exercise daily what we learn through practice (James 1:21-22). It is about having temperance “in all things,” in every area of our lives. And if we practice good spiritual discipline, when it comes time for the race, we will be able to run without getting tired; our legs will have power and our hearts will be strong because we have sought God and He has prepared us. We will not “run with uncertainty” as Paul says, but with purpose, always keeping our eyes on the goal. It is only with the self-control of a disciplined spiritual runner that we will finish the race well.
Unlike a marathon runner though, the prize we run for is not a gold medal that after a while will just be a memento of the past collecting dust on a shelf. As Paul says in verse 25, “Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.” I get very excited when I think about what that crown means. It’s not just a prize or a pretty keepsake; it’s a crown reserved for royalty, for the adopted children of the King of Kings. That crown is for heirs to a kingdom, joint heirs with Christ, just as it says in Romans 8:17. How often though, do we act like heirs to the kingdom of God? Does our life show that we are disciplined runners who practice self-control through the power of the Holy Spirit within us? Is our eye on the prize, constantly reminding us that we are children of a Mighty Lord? Or are we slacking when it comes to our spiritual diet and exercise program? Sister, hear me when I say that we need to be mindful of the prize at hand. We need to run with certainty and purpose, for not only are other people watching, but that crown is not something to be lost because we failed to take the race seriously. So run, dear sister! Run with discipline and purpose for that glorious and imperishable prize. Run like a daughter of the King of Kings. I will see you at the finish line!
Your loving sister in Christ,
~ Lauren