[Steve Myers] Are you your own worst enemy? I ask that question because I heard a story a while back about a boxer. He was a price fighter way back in the 1930s. And he was absolutely determined to win the match. He had trained, got ready to go, got in that, and he was absolutely confident he could knock out his opponent. And so as he began to fight, he decided it was just going to take one blow, one vicious, crucial blow would end this match. And so he reared back at one point and gave it everything he possibly could, and he swung around, and like concrete, he hit right on the nose, and the man staggered and he stumbled and boom, fell to the canvas. But he had knocked himself out. Somehow he had missed his opponent and swung around and nailed himself right in the nose. Obviously, his own worst enemy.

Does that ever happen to us? When you think of it spiritually, in fact, the Bible speaks to that very fact and compares our spiritual life to a prize fight. In 1 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul speaks to this in 1 Corinthians 9:25. Here's what he says, "Everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. They do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown." You see it's not just for the prize, it's not just for the championship belt or the winner's wreath that we're competing for. We're in a spiritual battle. We are fighting spiritual wickedness in high places. We better not rely on our own strength, our own fighting skills, because that's not going to accomplish the task at hand. Here's where Paul says, here's how you run. He says, "Thus I run not with uncertainty." 

Here's how he fought. Thus I fight not as one who beats the air. Not just flailing haphazardly, all over the place trying to strike a blow, but Paul is pointing out the fact that we better rely on God. In fact, he says this, "I discipline my body, and bring it into subjection." Paul was disciplined and that points to the fact he was a disciple. He was a disciple of Jesus Christ. He relied on Christ in him to help fight those battles. He didn't get off track. He didn't self-destruct. He could help keep all of that, those aspects of human nature in control when he relied on God. We can do the same. We can do the same. When those temptations come, let's make sure we discipline our bodies, be the kind of disciples that God wants us to be, and when we do that, we won't self-destruct. When we rely on him, we can knock out sin.

That's BT Daily. We'll see you next time.