As Christians, we don’t think much about disciplining our bodies. But in Paul’s mind, this is the only way to carry out our calling and realize the fullness of life we have in Jesus. Today’s excerpt from The Disciplined Life is from page 9:
“Disciplining our bodies, so that they are under the control of the indwelling Spirit of God, is a full-time calling for all who profess the Name of Jesus Christ. We may talk a good faith all we want, even, as Paul suggests, going so far as to preach it boldly and clearly. But unless our bodies are under the control of the Spirit, so that good works of love consistently issue from them, we will be disqualified—Paul’s word, not mine—from any true claim of saving faith.
“Which makes careful, prayerful, ongoing, diligent work in disciplining our bodies a most important facet of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
“Is this a task easily accomplished?
“Hardly. There is much to do, and a lifetime of hard work to engage, day after day after day. We shall have to apply ourselves diligently, in a comprehensive manner, and with the eyes of our soul focused squarely on the Lord and His objective, if we hope to realize the promise of good works in the practice of our confession of faith in Christ.
“A life qualified to serve Christ is a life under subjection to His rule. And such a life is only achieved through discipline.”
For reflection or discussion
1. How would you describe the state or your “disciplined” life at this time?
2. What do you think it will require of you as you go forward into a more disciplined life?
All this talk of discipline may sound either like punishment or getting in shape. I suppose a disciplined life is a little bit of each, but we’ll have more to say about that as we go forward. For now, we need to be thinking about what a disciplined body has to do with being a Christian. So you might find a friend or two to bounce this idea off of and begin a fruitful conversation on the subject. Share today’s podcast with some friends. Encourage your friends to listen to the podcast as well. Set up a time when you can get together to discuss what it means to live The Disciplined Life. You can download a free copy of The Disciplined Life by going to The Ailbe Bookstore. Get yours, then share it with all your friends.
T. M. Moore
