Training To Win
November 2004
When I was nine years old I found
a sport that excited me to no end.
I had found gymnastics! As an energetic
and outgoing little girl there was
nothing better for me! I could run
and jump, turn flips and exert mounds
of energy once a week. It was fun!
I loved it so much that I caught on
fairly quickly and after about two
years I was moved up to the team!
The actual competitive team that went
out to meets and vied for medals!
O man, I thought that I was in heaven.
Now I got to have fun and get a medal
for doing it.
However, it became very apparent to
me very quickly that things were going
to change when I became a part of
the team. Now practice multiplied
from once a week to four days a week
and practice was a lot more systematic.
It became far less exciting to me
because instead of just being let
loose the "have fun" I had
a certain amount of time designated
to lifting weights and do sit-ups
and then I had to do that same tumbling
pass over and over again until I landed
it perfectly. I quickly learned that
when I or any one else moved up to
the status of team we were there not
necessarily to have fun but to bring
home a medal. In order to make that
happen, we had to train. To this day,
I have the battle scars to prove that
I trained! Any gymnast that has to
spend hours on the uneven bars trying
to perfect her routine will inevitably
come away with a "rip".
A "rip" is when the skin
on a portion of the palm of your hand
rips off because of the constant rubbing.
I had several of these during my years
in gymnastics and I hated them. They
hurt and to make matters worse having
a "rip" didn't excuse you
from practicing bars. You still had
to perfect your routine in spite of
the "rip". And as much hurt
and tears as my training sometimes
produced, I did it anyway. Why? Because
I was on the team and all we wanted
was to WIN. Myself, my teammates and
our coaches wanted to walk away from
competition with a medal!
1 Timothy 4:8 says, "bodily discipline
is only of little profit, but godliness
is profitable for all things, since
it hold promise for the present life
and also for the life to come."
The Greek word for discipline here
is gymnazo. It is the root from which
we get our word gymnastics. It means
"to exercise or to train".
It implies that the training I did
to get my body ready for competition
is the same training that we should
all be participating in to get out
inner man ready for spiritual competition.
I don't know about you, but it is
often hard to take on this mindset
about our spirits. Bur when we don't
take it seriously we often find ourselves
in a heated competition between the
flesh and the spirit and because we
did not train, we cannot expect our
spirits to win. In order to win in
the spiritual realm you and I have
to "discipline ourselves for
the purpose of godliness"(1Timothy
4:7). It is not always easy and is
not always fun but it is necessary.
They runner has to discipline himself
to train despite the weather, the
pianist has to discipline himself
to practice despite the fact that
his favorite television show is on
and the golfer has to discipline himself
to play even when he lost his last
game. Casual runners don?t have to
do this and someone who plays the
piano for fun can sit down to the
keys when there is nothing better
to do. But in order to be a winner,
you have to get busy even when. .
no especially when. . . you don't
want to.
You and I have to discipline our inner
man to heed the voice of the spirit
to discern between good and evil and
walk in a manner worthy of the calling
with which we have been called. My
friend, this takes training. It takes
a constant effort on your part to
take your inner man to training every
day. Even when it is hard. Even when
your spiritual stomach hurts because
of the amount of sit-ups you did yesterday.
Even when there is a spiritual "rip"
that is stinging so badly you feel
like you can't go on. Even when you
know that in order to win the medal
training can no longer be just a once
a week thing, it has to be every day.
You and I must practice and train
and practice and train because that
is the only way we will be prepared
to take on the fiery darts of our
competitor who is always looking for
a confrontation.
Determine what your strategy will
be today! Find a devotional that can
help you to exercise your spiritual
muscles in such a way that you are
prepared for the competition. And
not just prepared to go but prepared
to walk away with a medal!
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