Hi, I'm Erin and this is Daily Life.
You have a lot in common with Olympic athletes and you don't realize it.
We just finished watching the Olympics a couple of weeks ago and those athletes were incredible.
I mean, expert curling doesn't just happen and launching down an icy mountain on two sticks
before flying off a literal cliff.
Did you notice that no spectators volunteered to try that out for the first time?
That's because athletes don't get there by accident.
They make hard, daily decisions to forfeit some freedoms because they're chasing a reward
And we don't get anywhere important by chance either.
In first Corinthians 925, Paul talks about this.
He says all athletes are disciplined in their training.
They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.
I know the Olympics look exciting, but discipline is actually boring.
It's doing the same thing over and over again.
It's consistency over time.
Do you see where I'm going with this?
Discipline isn't just for the elite athletes out there.
It is necessary for all of us who follow Jesus because what's more valuable than any gold
medal is our eternity.
That's the only thing that will never fade.
So we have all the more reason to integrate disciplines into our life that keep us focused
on the long game and racing towards the right prize.
I love how Craig Rochelle says it.
That discipline is choosing what you want most over what you want now.
We decide on our good days the practices that will carry us through our bad ones.
And we give up what's not beneficial for where we're headed because our prize is eternity
with Jesus and true satisfaction will only ever come from him.
So we say no to porn because Jesus is our desire.
We say no to binge eating or kidding drunk and we let Jesus fulfill us.
We say no to chasing money or compromising our integrity because our eyes are locked
And we choose time and prayer and in God's word and to make church a weekly priority.
And we say no to the things that get in the way because living for Jesus is so much better.
And we decide now what we want most.
We don't let feelings decide later because the fact remains that nothing is better than
Jesus, we admit that we can get distracted and tired and let our feelings decide in
But you matter more than anything we could gain in this world.
So help us to put small, consistent practices into place that build our discipline to continue
to chase after you and run this race.
Daily Life is created by LCBC Church.
LCBC stands for Lives Changed by Christ.
We are one church in multiple locations across Pennsylvania.
For more information about LCBC or to find resources to help you grow in your faith,
go to LCBCChurch.com.
