Your Structure

“But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”

1 Corinthians 9:27

A study was conducted. Two basketball teams shot free throws. One group shot 100 free throws with an accuracy rate of around 30%. The second, they had set for 30 minutes and visualized making a perfect free throw 100 times. That team went out and shot 100 free throws with 75% accuracy. What is the difference? The mental structure.

We say the strongest part of the body lies between the ribs and knees. The strongest part of that is between the waist and knees. You can do some heavy lifting with those muscles for sure. However, that is not the strongest part of the body. Some might say emotions are the strongest part of us. Emotions do have a strong influence on us. They can motivate and push us to do things that we wouldn’t have done before. That again is not the strongest part of the body.

The mind is the strongest part of the body. The mind holds the key to success in every step we take and every concept we create. The mind can hold you in prison inside the tiny cell of your body. The mind has the power to motivate you to heights unimaginable.

The mind is a wild draft horse capable of great feats of destruction or construction but left unbridled nothing will be done. Humor me, if you will, for just a moment with this question.

Would you let a wild elephant roam free in your front yard? Why? Although you may make acquaintances with the beast, the raw uncontrolled power is too risky to keep around. Then why do you let your mind, capable of more, roam free?

We can train and bridle our minds to be used for success in Christ. Each person is capable of doing this. The length of time your mind has run free equates directly to the amount of effort it's going to take for you to master it. Once done, like an elephant, you don’t even have to chain it, it will stay. Having been conditioned to act, behave, and work in a certain way the need for chains, ropes, and confinements are not necessary. However, reverting to ignorance of its capabilities, even with a trained powerful beast like this, is not a choice. We cannot forget what the mind is capable of, even if it is well-trained. Therefore, although confinements may seem elective, they are still necessary.

Like most animals, once you get control of the head the body follows suit. If you train your mind, capturing its raw power, the body will follow suit. You can be in control and use what God has given you for His glory, not yours. You have to do the work. Paul was speaking of this training and disciplining of his mind and body in 1 Corinthians 9:27. You can do the same. Paul said, “I” discipline my body, “I” seek to please God. Work to create godly mental structures.

-Steve Johnson

#MaysvilleMessenger