In 1 Cor 9:27, Paul writes that he “will discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”

What does he mean by “discipline” here?

Yesterday, when I went to the pool for my lunchtime workout, the last thing I felt like doing was swimming. I’d much rather just have gone to lunch. After all, missing one day can’t possibly make much of a difference, can it? I swam anyway. And, as always, I felt really good after the workout. I also astonished myself by doing 1700 yards - the furthest I’ve been since my shoulder surgery.

The interesting thing is that I often seem to have no desire to jump in the pool for a workout. But every time, without exception, I make myself get in. And every time, without exception, I feel good after it. More importantly, it’s the consistency that make me a little bit stronger every day. And over time, I become a powerful swimmer.

The same is true in other areas of life. Dancing, playing piano (when I used to), going to work, and even my relationship with my wife. I don’t always “feel” like doing or working on these things. But it’s the discipline of consistency that brings growth in each of these areas.

Understand what’s going on here. I don’t do these things out of guilt or legalism. (Some Christians have no discipline in their personal life, wrongly claiming it to be an exercise of their “freedom” in Christ. Inevitably, what they really have is an undisciplined, out-of-control life. Ironically, their “freedom” inexorably becomes bondage.) I do these things from the practice of discipline. Discipline brings growth and maturity. No discipline means no growth and immaturity.

That’s also precisely how it is with spiritual growth in Christ. I have to confess I sometimes just don’t feel like going to Journey Group on Wednesday night. But I go anyway. And everytime, without exception, I feel good afterwards. More importantly, my faith grows every time a little. And I mature a little more each time.

A lot of Christians float in and out of their relationship with Christ and His body - participating only when convenient or when they “feel” like it. And then they wonder why there doesn’t seem to be much growth, and why their relationship with Christ seems anemic.

Any athlete who tries to condition his/her body in this manner, working out only when they “feel” like it, is a joke and doomed to failure and mediocre performance at best. Paul in fact, uses the analogy of an athlete, in the context of the passage above where he talks about discipline. “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.” (1 Cor 9:25)

I don’t always feel like going to church on Sunday. I don’t always feel like praying. I don’t always feel like reading the Bible. But it’s the consistency in these actions that ultimately brings spiritual maturity. It’s the consistent exercise of discipline in these areas, over time, that matures me in Christ.

Consistency in discipline is essential. Without consistency, the discipline is meaningless. At the pool, it’s almost comical to see the number of people that flood it right after Jan 1st, guilt-ridden from overindulging during the holidays and with their New Year resolutions to get in shape. Almost without exception, all of them disappear within 2-3 weeks … until their annual reappearance the next year.

Feeling spiritually weak or apathetic? Try some consistent discipline in your life …

Bob
Fides Quaerens Intellectum

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Bob Pratico
Fides Quaerens Intellectum
(my Sojourn blog)