If we chose not to practice and to just show up on game day, how successful would we be? If you look at it, the teams that are most successful have the players and the coaches that put the most into what they are doing. Do you have to have some talent? Yes, I believe talent helps, but I can tell you from experience, talent will only get you so far. There's a point in a game and in a season, where the will to win and the heart beating inside your chest takes over. Sometimes, do we fall short? Yeah. That's life, you don't win every game you play.
Our walk with Christ should be the same thing. How can we face the pitfalls of life and temptation if we don't practice. I've been a huge "fan" (I love the entire Bible, but always seem to come back to this) of Paul's passage on self-discipline in his letter to the church in Corinth.
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only on 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; 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."
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Paul uses the metaphor of athletics to get his point across that our Christian life is supposed to be nearly the same. Athletes do not go into competition without being prepared. Soldiers do not enter a war zone without intelligence. Police do not bust down a door without some sort of idea of what waits behind. Firemen don't run into a fire without knowing something about the building. All these people have some sort of strategy before they go into the situation.
Our daily lives as a Christ-follower should emulate those people. Where should we get our strategies and tactics? The Bible. How will I know when to use them? Oh, you're going to know trust me. Our enemy uses plenty of things to side track us. Our main defense is to stand behind the power of Jesus Christ and his Word. If you have God's Word in your heart and mind you will have the recall and the ability to overcome a situation. That is why God gave us His Word. Not only is it His love letter to us, but it is our game plan or our battle strategy. USE IT!
Another way of battling the traps and evils that come up in our lives is to completely avoid the things we know will trap us. "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul." 1 Peter 2:11. Peter gives us a great strategy here, just stay away from it. If you know that going to a bar is going to cause you to get sloppy drunk and do things you wouldn't want to do, don't go to a bar. If you cannot trust yourself in the middle of the night with your cell phone in your bed or beside your bed, put the phone on the dresser across the room.
Our most important strategy in life is to put trust where it should be. If you are facing a temptation or trial, lean on Jesus, because He's already won! "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33.
In the end, Jesus has done it all! All we have to do is trust Him and His strategy and plan for our lives!
Our walk with Christ should be the same thing. How can we face the pitfalls of life and temptation if we don't practice. I've been a huge "fan" (I love the entire Bible, but always seem to come back to this) of Paul's passage on self-discipline in his letter to the church in Corinth.
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only on 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; 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."
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Paul uses the metaphor of athletics to get his point across that our Christian life is supposed to be nearly the same. Athletes do not go into competition without being prepared. Soldiers do not enter a war zone without intelligence. Police do not bust down a door without some sort of idea of what waits behind. Firemen don't run into a fire without knowing something about the building. All these people have some sort of strategy before they go into the situation.
Our daily lives as a Christ-follower should emulate those people. Where should we get our strategies and tactics? The Bible. How will I know when to use them? Oh, you're going to know trust me. Our enemy uses plenty of things to side track us. Our main defense is to stand behind the power of Jesus Christ and his Word. If you have God's Word in your heart and mind you will have the recall and the ability to overcome a situation. That is why God gave us His Word. Not only is it His love letter to us, but it is our game plan or our battle strategy. USE IT!
Another way of battling the traps and evils that come up in our lives is to completely avoid the things we know will trap us. "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul." 1 Peter 2:11. Peter gives us a great strategy here, just stay away from it. If you know that going to a bar is going to cause you to get sloppy drunk and do things you wouldn't want to do, don't go to a bar. If you cannot trust yourself in the middle of the night with your cell phone in your bed or beside your bed, put the phone on the dresser across the room.
Our most important strategy in life is to put trust where it should be. If you are facing a temptation or trial, lean on Jesus, because He's already won! "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33.
In the end, Jesus has done it all! All we have to do is trust Him and His strategy and plan for our lives!
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