May 19th, 2025
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.Therefore, I do not run like someone running aimlessly or fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."
If you’re into sports at all, you would know how intensely athletes at the highest level of their sport work to be a part of the top 1% of athletes worldwide. One sport in particular where you can witness the sheer intensity of training and discipline online is combat sports. Fighters spend endless hours training their endurance, sticking to strict diets, sparring with other fighters, and maybe most intense of all, enduring extreme weight cuts the week before their official fights to compete and have the competitive advantage over their opponents. The process of training from the outside looking in looks boring, not fun, and even painful at times. However, the cost of discipline pays off in the reward of victory in the end. The same is true of our walks with Christ and our thought life.
From chapters 8-10 of 1 Corinthians, Paul speaks much about Christian Freedoms and how to use these freedoms. Through these chapters, Paul attempts to make the general point to the people of Corinth that although there are many things we are free to do, like eating the leftover meat from the temple after pagan sacrifices in the context of Corinth (1 Cor 8), we must be mindful of how we use our freedoms.
Some things, although permissible, are not beneficial (1 Cor 10:23-24). Sometimes the things we can do would not be helpful to others or ourselves if we did them. Chapter 9 of 1 Corinthians details how Paul has surrendered his freedoms for the sake of others, while the beginning of chapter 10 warns of behaviours to avoid in the Christian life. Sandwiched between these thoughts are the words of our devotion today.
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”
This verse, in addition to the other verses of our devotion, highlights a truth about our Christian lives that is also applicable to thinking about garnering a thought life that honours God: “we are running toward a valuable reward at the end of our lives that will require discipline for us to get there.” This discipline includes the area of our thought life. Like the UFC fighters mentioned earlier, this fight and race that we live called life requires strict discipline from us, not aimless running or fighting, but intentionality, battling the things that will try to get us off track so that we can receive the reward Christ has already earned for us in salvation and eternity with God.
Applying this discipline to our thought life will mean that there are freedoms of thinking we may not be able to exercise. These areas may include sacrificing social media if you find its content motivates ungodly thoughts, or not watching certain shows or listening to certain songs if they are not helping you think more like Christ. Discipline in our thought life also involves an active fighting and shaping of our thought life. Although we cannot always control what we think, we can control what we choose to meditate on. If we are to believe in a way that truly honours God, sacrifice and discipline will be needed.
Maybe discipline is not a strong area in your life at the moment. That’s no problem! Thankfully, we can grow in discipline through the Holy Spirit’s power, which develops in us the fruit of self-control. Ask God for strength, grow in discipline, and run your race to win the prize!
Challenge For This Week
This week, take an opportunity to assess an area in your life that negatively impacts your thoughts. This could be an area that directly causes you to think in a way that does not honour God or prevents you from growing to think more like Christ because you are not doing it. Apply discipline this week by adding or subtracting the habit from your life.