Choosing a Little Discomfort
“But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”1 Corinthians 9:27 (KJV)
Most of modern life is designed to remove discomfort. Climate control, food on demand, entertainment in our pocket. It’s nice. But a life with no discomfort at all can leave us soft, and easily knocked over.
Choosing small, healthy discomforts, like a walk in the cold, a workout, a simpler meal, can be a kind of training. Not to earn anything from God, but to practise saying no to yourself.
Paul knew that kind of training: “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” And Hebrews says hard training pays off: “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”
Small discomforts chosen today make it easier to stand firm when bigger ones come.
Read it yourself
Read Hebrews 12:5–11. Why does the writer say the Lord chastens those he loves?
What small, healthy discomfort could you choose this week?
Lord, train me. Help me say no to myself in small things so I can stand firm in big ones. Amen.