1 CORINTHIANS 9:24-27

So many believers do not “run to win.” Instead they “run for joy,” because they have won already. They site this as a facet of their victory in Christ. Clearly this isn’t Paul’s theology. Our victory in Christ is assured, but there is a level of participation in it. We cannot simply lay down in the race and expect to finish it. We can not drop our sword in the battle and expect to win it. Hidden within the call to confess and repent is the movement of turning from your previous path and starting down a new one. In every hidden place, going to the depths of our being, this practice of transformative repentance must be practiced. It must be disciplined because it is not autonomic. The runners body wants to fall. It is the runners mind that challenges it to stride. Remove the intention from a runner and his form will simply topple over. Not only will he lose the race, but with injury and shame. True repentance must be intentional and participatory. Only daily discipline ensures victory.