By Pastor Dr. Aggrey Soyekwo
1 Corinthians 9:25-27 “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; I do not 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.” – NIV
Paul uses the example of athletes who undergo strict discipline in training to win the prize in a game. Such training restricts the body from some of its leisurely desires, things that make the body disciplined to a particular cause. Excelling and winning a prize is an outcome of alot of hard work for a long time behind the scenes. The public victory is only the climax. That’s true for spiritual success as well.
Relating this to spiritual disciplines, Paul states how he beats his body in order to win the prize for his service in the gospel. The body and its desires can be a source of downfall in ministry. So many have gone down the drain, fallen from the heights and eventually been disqualified for the prize because they could not resist the drives of the body. The uncontrolled lusts of the flesh, of the eyes, the quest for fame, coupled with the cares of this life, led them off track.
The Christian life requires self discipline in devotion. That is hard work. We have to learn to say no to bodily desires contrary to God’s will for us. We have to learn obedience, humility and living in holiness to God despite the evil around us. Those who will recieve the ‘weldone good and faithful servant’ reception must, of necessity, be overcomers. And overcomers are fighters, including disciplining their own bodies and bringing them under subjection lest they be disqualified for the prize.
Romans 8:13 “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”
Shalom children of God.