Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 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. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.
(1 Corinthians 9:24–27)

As I dig into the first 13 verses of 1 Corinthians 10, trying to get a handle on this matter of godliness, I am attracted to this section of Scripture because it revolves around a group of people who had every reason to be godly, but they were not. That intrigues me. Why in the world wouldn’t those ancient Hebrews, who were supernaturally delivered from Egyptian bondage under Moses’ leadership, model true godliness?

Paul is writing these words under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. His thoughts in 1 Corinthians 10 are a spin-off from his closing remarks in chapter nine.

Those are the words of a godly man. He wasn’t playing games with this life. Therefore, he refused to let his body dictate his objectives. He “beat it black and blue” (literal rendering of the last verse) and determined to make it his slave rather than the other way around. Why? Look again at what he says. He didn’t want to finish his life as a washout. Paul dreaded the thought of being disqualified, as a strong preacher of righteousness who ultimately shrivelled into a weak victim of his own fleshly drives. I get the distinct impression that he feared the age-old problem of trafficking in unloved truth...of not taking God seriously.

That can happen so easily in this generation of superficiality. We can run with religious people, pick up the language, learn the ropes, and never miss a lick—publicly, that is. We can even defend our lifestyle by a rather slick system of theological accommodation.

The better we get at it, the easier it is to convince ourselves we are on target. All it takes is a little Scripture twisting and a fairly well-oiled system of rationalization and we are off and running. Two results begin to transpire: (1) all our desires (no matter how wrong) are fulfilled, and (2) all our guilt (no matter how justified) is erased. And if anybody attempts to call us into account, label them legalistic and plow right on! It also helps to talk a lot about grace, forgiveness, mercy, and the old nobody’s-perfect song.

Paul rejected that stuff entirely. He refused to be sucked into such a system of rationalization. He panted after God. He thirsted deep within his soul for the truth of God so he might live it. He longed to take God seriously.

Taken from Strengthening Your Grip by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2015 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Worthy Books, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc.