The apostle Paul often uses athletic or sporting images to make his point. In his first letter to the Corinthian church, he writes about our attitude as followers of Jesus - he says we should run not just as participants, but instead aiming to winning the race; that we should submit to strict discipline, like a boxer training for a title fight (1 Cor 9:24-27). To which we say a hearty 'Amen', but it does sound pretty tiring ...
We long to be people who are as focused and intentional as athletes when it comes to our praying and our speaking and the living out of our lives as Jesus' disciples, but in truth we find it hard enough to be disciplined in our eating habits and our phone use, never mind training for a marathon!
Author Cal Newport makes the point that discipline is not a character trait, it is something that we absolutely can develop through practice. He has very simple advice for us - Newport says that we raise our discipline threshold by doing something hard. And then doing another hard thing. The outcome of these deliberate choices is a series of small wins that helps us to see ourselves differently - as people who can do hard, worthwhile things. You could do worse than ask yourself at the end of each day if you did something hard during that day.
How then do we sustain such discipline? Paul says we keep on keeping on by fixing our eyes on the prize (Philippians 3:12-14). May God strengthen and bless you today as you run in such a way as to win the prize!
We long to be people who are as focused and intentional as athletes when it comes to our praying and our speaking and the living out of our lives as Jesus' disciples, but in truth we find it hard enough to be disciplined in our eating habits and our phone use, never mind training for a marathon!
Author Cal Newport makes the point that discipline is not a character trait, it is something that we absolutely can develop through practice. He has very simple advice for us - Newport says that we raise our discipline threshold by doing something hard. And then doing another hard thing. The outcome of these deliberate choices is a series of small wins that helps us to see ourselves differently - as people who can do hard, worthwhile things. You could do worse than ask yourself at the end of each day if you did something hard during that day.
How then do we sustain such discipline? Paul says we keep on keeping on by fixing our eyes on the prize (Philippians 3:12-14). May God strengthen and bless you today as you run in such a way as to win the prize!