Devo 5 – Breaking for Better

Coaches put their players in workouts so that their players can get stronger, hit the ball further, and run quicker on the field. There are technically two ways one could gain muscle: Increase the number of muscle cells you have or increase the size (length, width, or both) of the ones you’ve already got.

Unfortunately, we stop growing new muscles cells soon after birth, so if you are old enough to read this, your only option is to increase their size—that’s what people mean when they say ‘build muscle.’ Resistance training (lifting weights) is the most common way of rapidly building more muscle, but all exercise will build muscle.

When you lift weights, run, swim, or even walk briskly, this adds tension to your muscles, causing them to tear slightly. Our bodies rebuild these muscles during a repair process. The more tension you place on your muscles, the more likely the muscle cells will tear, repair, and get stronger. You break it down to be better!

In a spiritual sense, when we serve and sacrifice for God and others, we are breaking down our pride and strengthening or relationship with God. Our spirit is being purified. We are submitting to the painful tearing of our egos. We are considering others to be of value over our own wants and desires. Ultimately, we are sharing the gospel through it all!

Full Count Ministries’ verse is 1 Corinthians 9:25 which says, “Whoever competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” Training is a difficult process, but when we are presented with the game on the line, we have a much better chance to succeed in the future when we have done the work. And we have a lot of work to do to strive toward total humility.

Every bit of carrying our crosses and sacrifice is worth it in light of eternity. Do you want to compete for something that will last? Do you want to live for something that matters to God? Christ is building his Church, but isn’t ready to put you in the game until you have done some training. 

We need your spirit to be strong with the character of Godliness. We need you to have faith fully in God’s Word. We need you to be an ambassador for Jesus. But you can’t lift the big weights in this world until you start with something that you can manage now, knowing that God will refine you and lead you though the training.

For the Kingdom, you must be broken first to be better used in this competition for souls!