The 2024 Paris Olympics are well underway and soon coming to a close. All over the globe, people are gathered around televisions in awe as they watch the greatest in their perspective sports compete to bring home a medal for their country. I love seeing what the human body can do with perseverance and determination. But I am also reminded of a far superior discipline; spiritual discipline. I believe that athletic training can serve as a metaphor for Christians. We all can learn to be spiritually disciplined like an Olympian athlete.
The Olympian Regimen
The key components of an Olympian’s regimen include nutrition, training, recovery, and discipline. It has been discovered that elite athletes dedicate at least 10,000 hours to their craft. (What I Learned: Over 50 Olympic Athlete’s Daily Routines) This is what separates them from the amateurs. And yet, they are still like us. They can relate to wanting to hit the alarm clock’s snooze button or fighting a mental block when attempting to learn a new skill. The athletes we see perform on our TVs are not superheroes absent of error or fatigue. I am reminded of this when I witness a wobble on the balance beam or a fall off the uneven bars. What separates the average person struggling to make it to the gym and the Olympic athlete is discipline.
Many of them have sacrificed traditional schooling, prom, parties with friends, and overindulgence for an opportunity to compete with the best of the best. They spend their lives training for a moment.
Run The Race
“Don’t you know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way to win the prize. Now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable crown. So I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air. Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 CSB
Are we running the race? Paul is teaching us to be disciplined in our faith. As Christians, our training is not for temporary rewards or titles but for an eternal prize. Therefore, we must bring our bodies, our souls, under the submission of Christ. We mustn’t allow our thoughts, disobedience, or sin to disqualify us from the prize that is promised to us.
Spiritual Training
“For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”
1 Timothy 4:8 CSB
1 Timothy 4 tells us that physical training is good but is limited beneficially. Remember, we serve an eternal God and our minds should always be set on things above. We should be good stewards of our bodies and health while also maintaining the belief that spiritual training reigns supreme. Physical discipline serves us well in this life but spiritual discipline is good for here and eternity.
Like an Olympic athlete, commit yourself to a spiritual regimen. Fuel yourself with Godly nutrition through the reading and studying of His Word. Train your mind by capturing every thought and meditating on God’s truth. (2 Corinthians 10:5, Psalms 119:48) Find rest and comfort in God through prayer, worship, and praise. (Psalms 62:1, Matthew 11:28, Psalms 23:4) Practice discipline by walking the narrow road that God has laid out for us. (Matthew 7:14) When you allow your spiritual discipline to be the foundation of your physical training, you remember that your identity is in Christ alone and the best prize you could ever receive is in eternity.
With Love,
Tamara
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Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
