I Keep My Body in Subjection

[Thompson, Darryl]

I Keep My Body in Subjection 

     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 Cor. 9:27  

     The body is the only medium through which the mind and the soul are
developed for the upbuilding of character. Hence it is that the
adversary of souls directs his temptations to the enfeebling and
degrading of the physical powers. His success here means the surrender
to evil of the whole being. The tendencies of our physical nature,
unless under the dominion of a higher power, will surely work ruin and
death.  

     The body is to be brought into subjection. The higher powers of the
being are to rule. The passions are to be controlled by the will, which
is itself to be under the control of God. . . .  

     The requirements of God must be brought home to the conscience. Men
and women must be awakened to the duty of self-mastery, the need of
purity, freedom from every depraving appetite and defiling habit. They
need to be impressed with the fact that all their powers of mind and
body are the gift of God, and are to be preserved in the best possible
condition for His service. . . .  

     Human barriers against natural and cultivated tendencies are but as
the sandbank against the torrent. Not until the life of Christ becomes a
vitalizing power in our lives can we resist the temptations that assail
us from within and from without. . . . By becoming one with Christ, man
is free. Subjection to the will of Christ means restoration to perfect
manhood.  

     Obedience to God is liberty from the thraldom of sin, deliverance
from human passion and impulse. Man may stand conqueror of himself,
conqueror of his own inclinations, conqueror of principalities and
powers, and of "the rulers of the darkness of this world," and of
"spiritual wickedness in high places."

>From My Life Today - Page 78