God speaks about how He loved Jacob, and hated Esau. It's not that He hated him. He's trying to bring a contrast: this one is precious to Me, because he valued the inheritance. The contrast is like love and hate, because actually he placed no value on it whatsoever, and it talks about that in Hebrews 12:16-17. So, the first thing is: value the prize.
2) The second thing is: we need to run with determination.
1 Corinthians 9:26 – “I run this way, not with uncertainty”. He says: I run with determination. The word ‘not uncertainly’ means something is not clearly identified as a goal, so he says: I run with certainty. I've got a determination.
That means literally a fixed intention to achieve a goal. He said: I have set my life on this goal of winning that prize. I've set my life on fulfilling my course. If we don't run with determination, with a goal in mind, we’ll never do what's needed to win. So any of you who've achieved anything know, if it's weight loss, or winning a race, there's a work needed to be able to do it. You've got to decide that you're going to be determined, because on the way you just feel like quitting, giving up. Even getting fit, you've got to be determined that's what's going to happen, or you'll quit on the way, because of the cost, or the pain, or the difficulty.
3) The third thing is: you need to engage the enemy.
1 Corinthians 9:26 – “Thus I fight, not like someone who beats the air”.
He talks firstly about racing, and running a race, and there's a prize to be won, and you've got to run. Then he shifts, and he begins to talk about a fight, and says: I'm in a fight. I'm not a shadow boxer. A shadow boxer is someone who practicing; they have an imaginary opponent; they're just playing, hitting the air. They're not hitting anyone. He looks like he's fighting, but he's not hitting anyone; no one's hitting him either. It's just all a lot of effort, and it's all about practice. Most shadow boxers just practice in the gym, so there's never any real conflict - and that is where many believers are.
They never really engage the enemy, in any kind of real way. They never stand in spiritual warfare. They don't stand, and push out into the spirit, so they never face the kinds of reactions that come, when you determine you're going to take new ground in your life, or in a ministry, or in your business - there's a fight against hidden spirit powers; and it's a real fight! They come for you, and they're nasty, and there's a pressure. There are all kinds of conflicts you go through; but many believers never get involved in that, so they never get involved in the difficult work of being involved with dealing with spirits, or in the difficult work of working with people. They'd rather just look spiritual and so on, without actually engaging and involvement. Paul talked very clearly, that our warfare is not with people; it's with spirit beings, and they do resist. He's saying then: I'm not a shadow boxer; I get into it - and when I get into it, I'm going for it, to win that fight. I'm not backing down. Our fights are against spiritual powers, and also against temptations, and various kinds of distractions.
4) The fourth (and last) one is: develop a focussed lifestyle.
He said: everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Temperate means showing self-control. It means moderation. You won't let anything take control of your life. All things are good, but don't let anything run control of your life. If you think about someone training for the Olympics, they're careful with their diet, they're careful with their sleep, they're careful with their exercise. They're living a highly disciplined life; and he's saying: that's the kind of life we need to be living, a disciplined life that's bringing honour to God and not just indulging, going doing this and doing whatever we want. He said: he disciplines his body; and that was through fasting. The discipline, the fasting to discipline his body, he said “lest I be disqualified”. He said: “having preached to others I might be disapproved or disqualified (or a castaway)”.
So he talks about: the race, with the prize; the fight, and the need to win; and then he said: I bring order and discipline to my life, in case having preached to everyone else, and told them all these things, I'm then when I get assessed, I didn't make it because I had too many things going on in my life privately. That's what you see frequently with people in ministry. They look great, there's great gifting, there's blessing, great ministry… and then suddenly, there's a collapse, and you think: disapproved. Why? There was some hidden thing that they never ever dealt with, they never let their body be sorted out, never disciplined their inner life.