Controlling My Flesh/My Will
Blessings in the Mighty Name of Yeshua Hamashiach!
Any professional sport requires committed athletes. A professional athlete often dedicates several hours a day, most days a week, to intense, regimented training in order to gain the stamina, strength, and speed required to succeed. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 9:24–27, compares the need for self-discipline and training in a believer’s life to athletic training. Like a runner or a boxer, Paul says, “I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27, NASB).
As a runner or boxer keeps his eyes on the prize and so endures all kinds of hardship, so believers must keep their eyes on Christ and on that which will last forever.
He or she does not allow the flesh to have control (Romans 13:14; 1 Thessalonians 4:4). Believers look forward to the day when God says to them, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23).
Shalom
Pastor Williams