Training

When asked who would want to take the hard road, pretty much everyone would say no. That’s just our normal human nature. We don’t want things to be difficult or strenuous for ourselves or our bodies, but is that what Christ has called us to do? Just like athletes we must train our bodies for the hard road so when the time comes, we are fit and able to endure the race. Athletes train their bodies, but we must train our hearts and our minds in ways that are pleasing to Christ. We must train our minds to respond to things in a Christ-like manner. We train our tongues the be quiet. Just because we think things, doesn’t mean they need to be said or just because we hear things, doesn’t mean they need to be repeated. We must learn to judge our words and determine if they will do more harm than good if spoken. If there is no benefit to saying what you want to say, then don’t say it. Rather train yourself to be discerning in these ways to be a light in the darkness. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one 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. 1 Corinthians 9: 24-25.

Our marriages can often be a training ground for how to handle life’s situations. When we first get married we find it easy to love each other, but as time goes on we start noticing our spouse’s faults and failures. When marriage becomes tough (and it will) we have two choices to make. We can either stay and work through things, or we can jump ship and find someone else to repeat the process with. When we choose to work through things, we must allow this time to be used for spiritual growth. It’s not easy to work through things with our spouses, but God hates divorce, and the reward for staying together and working through the difficult times is huge. Suffering itself does not produce growth, that is why we need God to work in our hearts to fix what is broken. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:9-11. Nobody enjoys discipline when they are going through it but we are reminded that discipline is for our good. So we can be mature and complete and better equipped to stand against all of life’s trials. I don’t know about you but I would rather be trained and disciplined by God than face the trials of this world and the devil’s schemes on my own.