Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 8:1-9:27.

I was trucking right along through today’s reading. It was one of those days where I was in a “yeah, I’ve read that before” kind of mood (not a good Bible reading mood to be in). But the very last verse smacked me down.

“But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”

In the past, my big preaching problem has been thinking about how everything applies to my audience. I would seek out what their problems were and swoop in like a spiritual super hero trying to fix everyone else. How easy it is to preach and teach in the second person: you need to do this, you must stop that, you need to change. How easy it is to spend all my time trying to fix others. How easy it is to spend all my time trying to lead others.

There are two problems with that.

1.I can’t give what I don’t have.

This probably hit me because of the Bible class lesson I taught yesterday from Max Dawson’s excellent class book on Kingdom Leaders. We studied the life of Josiah who became king at 8, sought the Lord at 16, but didn’t start impacting change in Judah until 20. The whole point behind the lesson was before we can be an influence for good in anyone else’s life, we must first work on ourselves. We might think, “What was wrong with Josiah? Why didn’t he jump on it and get busy right away? Why wait four years?” Those four years were probably the most important part of Josiah’s life. If he hadn’t spent those four years seeking the Lord, he probably would not have been able to impact the change in Judah, squashing idolatry and renewing their covenant with God.

I can give what I don’t have. If I don’t work on me, then my second person teaching will be empty, hollow, impotent. I need to work on me first.

2. If I’m not maintaining me, I’ll be disqualified.

How easy it is to reach a certain level and think, “Alright, I’ve done my four years of seeking the Lord, I’ve got me under control. Now its time to start helping others.” This is a noble motivation and desire, but if I quit working on me, then I’ll end up disqualified. When I start thinking that I’m standing, that is when I’ll fall. If I don’t sharpen the spiritual saw each day, I’ll become dull and ineffective. It is so easy to think we’ve finally arrived and then quit really working on ourselves.

I’ve been told and I believe that we are like trees. If we quit growing, that means we’re dead. We may still be walking around. I may still be teaching in second person, but I’m not accomplishing anything and I’m rotting from the inside out. All it will take is one big, deadly gust of wind and storm to knock me over for all to see the rot.

I’m thankful for today’s reminder. I need to spend today working on me. If I do, God may use me to help someone else, but at the very least, He’ll be strengthening me to glorify Him and surrender to His Son. That’s what I want. I want to run the race. I want to win the prize. That means I have to start with me.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What struck you in today’s reading?