“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.
They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” – 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
This daily devotional for men looks at one of the harder fruits of the Spirit to live out: self-control. The apostle Paul reaches for the picture of a runner and a boxer, two of the most visible disciplines in the ancient world, to describe what it looks like to live for Christ on purpose rather than by accident.
What This Verse Means
Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, a city that hosted its own athletic games, so his readers understood exactly what it cost to train for a race. He points out that every athlete exercises self-control in all things, even though the prize they are chasing is “a perishable wreath.” His point is simple: if athletes will discipline their bodies for a reward that fades, how much more should believers discipline themselves for a prize that lasts forever.
Self-discipline is sometimes called temperance and is listed as one of the nine fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23, which reads, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Paul places it last on that list, and it is not a theme Scripture returns to as often as some others, but it still shows up in key places. In 2 Timothy 1:7, Paul writes that “God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”
That framing matters. Self-control is not just willpower. It is something produced in a believer by the Holy Spirit living inside them.
Living It Today
Paul was honest about the fight this takes. In Romans 7, he admits, “What I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do… it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.” Any man who has tried to keep a promise to himself, whether about his health, his temper, his money or his time, knows exactly what Paul means.
Galatians 5:17 names the tension directly: “The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants.” That pull does not disappear because a man becomes a Christian. What changes is the power available to resist it.
Paul describes training his own body like an athlete, saying in 1 Corinthians 9:27, “I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” He treated discipline as something to practice daily, not something he expected to feel naturally.
Scripture also ties discipline to faithfulness in small things. Luke 16:10 says, “If you are faithful with little things, you will be faithful with large ones,” and Proverbs 13:4 adds, “Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.” Whether it is showing up for family, staying honest at work or keeping a commitment nobody else would notice, those small, repeated choices are where self-control is actually built.
Reflection Questions
Where in your life right now do you relate most to Paul’s words in Romans 7, wanting to do right but struggling to follow through?
What is one small, consistent habit you could practice this week that would train your self-control the way an athlete trains for a race?
How might relying on the Holy Spirit, rather than willpower alone, change the way you approach a struggle with discipline?
A Prayer For Today
Lord, thank You for the reminder that self-control is a fruit You grow in us, not a trophy we win on our own. Forgive me for the times I have relied only on my own strength and come up short. Teach me to train my habits the way an athlete trains his body, with patience and purpose.
Give me the discipline to be faithful in the small things today, trusting that You are faithful in all things. In Jesus’ name, amen.
For more encouragement built on Scripture, read this devotional for men on love for another look at living out the fruits of the Spirit.
Don't stop here
Every Score. Every Story. One Home.
Breaking sports, entertainment and news from across the Total Apex network, updated all day.
Get the Full Story →
