The Discipline To Finish Strong | Episode 19

Thank you for listening to this week's episode!  Today the topic of self discipline is anchored in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 discussing the Christian life being like a race that demands training, purpose, and endurance. Pastor Johnny shares practical ways to bring body and mind under submission so we can resist temptation, walk in instant obedience, and finish strong with integrity. 
• Paul’s picture of running to win and training for an eternal crown 
• self-discipline as bringing the body under submission instead of living for comfort 
• asking what we really “need” versus what the flesh wants 
• fasting as a spiritual discipline that trains instant obedience 
• using intentional discomfort to build strength for temptation and addiction battles 
• practical drills like cold showers and choosing healthy food on purpose 
• spiritual warfare mindset that refuses to box the air 
• finishing strong so we are not disqualified for the prize 

Check out "The Courage to Be Healed" by: Mark Rutland

Amazon Link - https://a.co/d/0ewG9KvK

Transcript

Welcome And Why Discipline Matters

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hey, Johnny Underwood here with the Undivided Podcast. Thank you for tuning in today. I really hope you're blessed by this episode. Good afternoon, Undivided Podcast listeners. Johnny Underwood here, and I am so excited to get to engage you today on this 19th episode of our podcast. And I just want to jump in and share the topic that's on my heart today, what God has put on my heart today, which is our need for self-discipline.

Paul’s Race And The Prize

SPEAKER_00 0:36

We're going to be out or be excuse me in 1 Corinthians 9, verses 24 through 27, where Paul is talking about our need for self-discipline. So I'm going to go ahead and read the scripture, and then we're going to jump into breaking that down and what uh what this does for us when we actually have self-discipline, when we're exercising self-discipline, how that makes us and helps us develop to be the mighty men of God and women of God that He has called us to be. So verse 24 here is Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the game 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. Therefore, Paul says, I do not run like someone running aimlessly. I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, he says, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave, so that after I've preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. There's just so much goodness in these verses here. One, just that that picture that we're running a race, that we're competing for something. Right? And to do that, we we're going to discipline our bodies, we're going to live differently. We're going to, because we aspire for something, we treat our bodies differently. We discipline our bodies, right? Because we're competing, we're competing for a prize, right? I don't know about you, but that prize for me is to hear God say, Well done, good and faithful son, good and faithful servant. So as we think about the the idea of disciplining our bodies to compete, right, as we train our bodies to um we bring them under submission, what does that look like? What does that look like in today's world?

Comfort Culture Versus Submission

SPEAKER_00 2:50

Right? Why do we need that? Right? These are these are questions that we we should be asking ourselves as we live in an environment, at least here in the Western hemisphere, here in America, when so much of our life is around comfort, around luxury, around pampering, what do I need self-discipline for? What's the benefit of that in comparison to just pampering myself, just satisfying my flesh with what it wants? Right? There is there is value to it, right? Because we're not living for the prizes of this world. If we're the sons and daughters of God, we're living from a different value system, we're living for a different purpose. And that purpose is to please the one whose name we bear, which is the as the sons and daughters of God. And so to do so, we need discipline. He prizes discipline, right? So to discipline ourselves means to bring our bodies, our flesh, under submission, right? And that means to have command of my body, to have command of my mind, so that when my flesh draws up and says, I want, or even my body says, I need, I can take inventory of what I want or what I perceivably need, if that's actually good for me, if God actually has that for me, and then make a decision to give it what it wants or what it needs, or to make it withstand under the trial of you're not going to get what it is that you want or perceivably need right now. Right. We're not talking about holding our breath or making our body live without oxygen, right? We're talking about taking from our body the luxuries that it wants, the pamperings that it needs, the sweet foods, right? The comforts, the eight, ten, twelve hours that we might want, right? The just the ease of life that's so readily available to so many of us. Rather than disciplining our bodies to say, when I tell you no, I'm not going to fight you, you're going to obey me. Right? As a parent, when my children were young and we were teaching them obedience, we weren't teaching them passive obedience or sometimes obedience. We were teaching them instant obedience, right? So then as a parent, if I yell to my son, don't run in the street or stop, that they instantly obey me for the benefit of them not getting hit by a car, right? That I they know my voice and they instantly obey my voice, right? That's what God wants for us. He wants us to listen to his voice, know his voice. His word says, My sheep, my sons and daughters, they know my voice, and another they will not follow, right? Sometimes that other is my own voice that wants, right? But I'm called to bring my body under submission to discipline it to when I give it the directive, no, or not right now, that I'm not wrestling my body for what it wants. It hears the no, it takes in the no and it obeys.

Fasting And Instant Obedience

SPEAKER_00 6:20

So this is the importance of fasting, right? The the principle that we see in scripture is scripture doesn't say if you fast, but when you fast. So we're called to fast. That's a discipline that we're called to. So when I fast, I'm telling my body, no, you can't have food, right? Or you can't have that food, you can't have that beverage. And I'm telling my body, not because necessarily food is wrong or that that beverage is wrong, but I'm making it obey me for the purpose of discipline. And so that then when it wrestles me or it begins to revolt and says, then my stomach's gonna growl and I'm gonna give you a lack of coffee headache as my body goes through caffeine withdrawals, that I push through those pains and I make my body submit. I remind my body that it's a vessel that's under authority, it's not in authority, right? And that's very difficult in our culture to do because we have so much comfort, so much luxury available to us that we have to literally discipline ourselves, right? One of the fruits of the spirit is self-discipline, that we develop this self-discipline, and we again command our body to obey us, right? And again, the importance of that is so that when I hear the Holy Spirit speak to me, that I can give that my body that command, right? I hear God say yes or no, and I give my body that command of yes or no, and it obeys. So that's the principle we see in Scripture. And then what we need to do is exercise these principles, uh, discipline ourselves to have these principles strengthened in us.

Discipline That Breaks Addiction

SPEAKER_00 8:03

So as I've been engaging with men in our ministry around the importance of this very discipline, of this principle of self-discipline around finding victory over their addiction or their lack of discipline around pornography. This is a principle, this is a discipline that is needed as we engage, having finding victory over the addiction of pornography. And so my challenge to these men and my challenge to myself has been discipline myself, put myself in distress, right? To say, my body wants something, I'm not giving it. When my body makes a demand, I with great intentionality, I tell it no, right? And beyond just the no, I'm gonna go make it many times, go do something it doesn't want to do. Right? So some practical examples of this are one of my favorite ones is climbing into a shower when I first wake up in the morning and leaving it on the cold water or jumping in before the cold water gets to the shower head, and I I set in that cold water, I stand in that cold water, and I wait for the hot water to come and hit me rather than waiting for the shower to get warm and then climbing in. And then another example of that is after taking it in the hot shower or the warm shower, dialing that handle back, you know, one or two clicks at a time until I'm back to cold water again and I'm making my body set in discomfort because it's not comfortable to set in cold water, right? I hear about men and women taking these cold plunges. And it's not because their body wants to set in cold water, it's because it's good for their bodies to set in cold water, right? But and there is um health benefits to this, but the aim is not the health benefit for what I'm talking about. I'm talking about disciplining our bodies so that our bodies get used to obeying us when we tell it to obey. So again, whether that's cold showers before or after our showers, or maybe even going to the extreme discipline of just taking a cold shower and just saying, I'm gonna be in this shower for as long as I need to it takes to shower, to clean, to wash my hair in this cold water. And I will my body to obey me, right? The same thing we would do with fasting, right? I take away food or I eat foods that I don't like. I'm not really crazy about, say, broccoli, but I make myself eat broccoli, right? I don't really, my body really wants a cheeseburger or tacos or pizza, and I make it eat grilled salmon or grilled chicken, right? I make myself eat steamed vegetables rather than the french fries and the other side items that I would normally order or want. So it's finding the healthy things on the menu when my body wants the unhealthy things on the menu. So we do these things for the purpose of disciplining our body, bringing it under submission.

Cold Showers And Food Choices

SPEAKER_00 11:07

Right? This sounds goofy to people at times, but it's one of the things I really like about the watching MMA fights. It's the watching two men spar or fight, and knowing that they're they're taking an offensive, uh, aggressive approach even as they're being hit or they're being kicked. They're willing their bodies to absorb the pain or absorb the blow, even as they are making war or making a putting up a fight to conquer the other person, right? This is what we're called to do. If you can think about that spiritually, this is what we're called to do. There's arrows of the enemy coming at us, there's temptations coming at us all the time. And to be able to say, I'm willing to dodge or avoid or even take that blow, right? I hear Satan whispering unholy things in my ear, or I hear the accuser of the brethren reminding me of sins of my past. But I say, I don't accept that. I'm a son of God under the blood of Jesus Christ, and I make offense with that rather than wincing back and saying, I don't have the discipline to fight against this. And I'm I'm defeated, or at least defeated in this moment. I'm I'm paralyzed rather than saying, no, I'm gonna beat my body and make it my slave, right? I'm gonna bring my body and my mind under submission, and I'm gonna make war, right? And defeat the one that is coming at me, which is the enemy, right? He's already defeated in Jesus. But we as the sons of God, the daughters of God, we have to take that victory and we move forward with it, right? That's what we give our Father is that we walk down, uh, we walk the enemy down as we profess with our words and our deeds the victory that has been found in Jesus Christ. We need this, right? We need this to continue to possess the strength that's required of us to be the sons and daughters of God. So because we're not called to just sit on the curb and wait for Jesus' return, we're called to make him known, right? And so as we're we're dealing with the enemy and we're dealing with a world that says, this Jesus stuff's not for real or it's ridiculous, right? You're just suffering for suffering's sake. Why don't you just give in to the pleasures of this world? We say, no, Christ's blood will not be wasted on me. I'm disciplined my body to to forgo the pleasures of sin, and I'm going to discipline my body to move forward in this discipline, in this strength to the glory of God and for the good of me.

Spiritual Warfare And Finishing Strong

SPEAKER_00 13:43

So that's what we're called to do. That's the invitation that uh that we see in scripture, right? Um to follow Christ is to take up our cross and follow him, right? And he didn't take the cross to the beach, he took it to Golgotha, right? And he said, They did this to me, they're going to do this to you, right? He did not invite us to a gospel of health and wealth and prosperity, right? He invited us to persecution, to suffering, right? He he talks, he gives us, you know, um pictures of putting on the full armor of God. What's the purpose of the armor? It's we need the armor because we're going to war, right? And to go to war, we can look great in our uniforms, if you will, but we've got to have the discipline to exercise the weapons of our warfare to make war on the enemy, right? For the, if we'll call it the freedom, but so that an on-looking world will see Christ in us and ideally want what they see, right? Because it's in those environments, right, where others are buckle, they give in to the flesh, or they give in to the pressure that we stand firm, right? Or we take the ground and we say, no, under pressure I still live Christ. Greater is he that's in me than he that is in the world, right? Something that we I grew up hearing was uh it's under pressure, it's under the stresses and the cares of life that we find out what manner of men that we are. And that manner of man that I am is developed, it's it's matured through the disciplines under the stress of life. So my challenge to us today is to really embrace this need for self-discipline in an environment, in a world, in a in a time of our life here in the 21st century, that we're that's not demanded of us, right? We are fighting over luxuries, right? We are fighting for and working so hard for comfort when God's actually called us to be mighty men and women of God. And so that requires that we discipline our bodies. And as Paul says here in verse 26, therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly. I do not fight like one boxing, like a boxer being in the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave, so that after I've preached to others, I myself may not be disqualified for the prize. That we say, I'm committed to preaching to others, right? Whether that is by word or by deed. But in my commitment to doing that, I don't walk undisciplined, but I walk disciplined so that I myself may not be disqualified. I don't want to hear God say, Hey, you tried real hard, or nice effort until the fourth quarter, right? I want him to say, you finished strong, you served your generation. Well done. Good and faithful son, good and faithful servant. So my plea to you today is as you hear my voice, ask God, God, where are the places in my life that I need discipline, I need self-discipline. Right? And that we begin to submit to that. We look for ways to discipline our bodies, to discipline our minds, right? To the to this here, to bring our bodies under submission, to memorize scripture, to to possess all that he has given to us to possess so that we can be victorious in this life and and receive the rewards that he is awaiting has awaiting for us in the life to come. So again, my ask for you of you today is that you would ask the Lord, Lord, where do I need to discipline myself? Where you invite me to walk out self-discipline, would you help me to walk out self-discipline? Would you bring someone into my life that can partner with me, that can hold me accountable, can walk beside me as I discipline my body and I make it my slave? So please, as we wear the jersey, right? We wear the brand of Jesus Christ, that we would exemplify his character in this world to an onlooking world that is saying, what's so different about you? And we can say, Jesus is the difference. Here are the attributes, here are the character qualities of Jesus Christ. And then they they want to inquire how do I serve at the feet of Christ myself? How do I please God? And we can then walk them through the what it looks like to be in relationship with Jesus Christ. That's that's the mission that we're on. So that's what I have for you today. I thank you for listening. I look forward to engaging you in our next episode.

Book Recommendation Prayer And Connect

SPEAKER_00 18:41

Uh before we go, I've got two things. One, I want to talk about a book that's one of my favorite books. It's on the top three list of my books and uh favorite books, and then I would like us to pray. So the book is called The Courage to Be Healed by Mark Rutland, and it is a book that a friend of mine that has since passed recommended to me. It's a book that God used to just absolutely transform my life in a time in my life that I needed to walk through some healing, and I was very resistant and to be honest, really scared to unpack aspects of my of my story. And and then this book was just phenomenal in giving me language and then walking me through where Jesus was and where Jesus has always been in my story. So if you're looking for a great read, you're looking for something that will uh help you as you are setting in your own story and asking God, God, where are you in my story? This book will be a I believe a blessing to your life. And again, it's called The Courage to Be Healed by Mark Rutland. So please check that out on Amazon. I believe that it will be a wonderful blessing to you. And with that, let's pray. So, Heavenly Father, Christian and I just come before you uh with each person that's listening to this podcast today. And Father, we ask that you would uh come and do a work in us so that you can do a work in it through us, Father, as we engage upon the the discipline of being self-disciplined, Father, that we would look for ways to bring our bodies under submission so that when temptation comes, we're not wrestling ourselves with obedience or rebellion. Father, that we would give to you instant obedience, that we would be looking and serving and submitting to you as Lord, that we would give you that instant obedience, that that response that doesn't require a why. It just requires hearing your voice and we move in that direction. Father, it's our desire to be self-disciplined, it's our desire to submit to you, Father. You have spent yourself as you came to earth in the form of a man in Jesus Christ. You have spent yourself to redeem us. And Father, uh through our acceptance of Christ and our baptism, right, as we put the old man down and Christ comes and lives in us and lives through us, Father, we want our vessels, our our these human bodies to represent Christ well and represent your kingdom well. And to do so, we need self-discipline. So we invite these this attribute, this character quality of self discipline into our lives. We ask that you would come and give us practical ways that we can bring our bodies under submission to the glory of you and the good of us. And we pray all this in Jesus' name. And guys, as guys and ladies, again, I want to invite you as I try to do on the end of each podcast, please uh come visit our website. It's theundivided.org. If there's something that we can pray with you about, if there is a need for a church and you can't find a church uh in your local area, please reach out to us. We've got a very simple form there that you can leave your name, your email, and a phone number. Someone on our staff, someone on our team will reach back out to you. We will connect with you and help you, whether it's to find a church, pray with you about something, or help you find another resource. Um again, thank you for tuning in today, and we look forward to seeing you next week. God bless.