IBS 1 Corinthians 9:27 (3-21-14)

Inductive Bible Study Method for 1 Corinthians 9:27 (3-21-14)

“But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”

Paul didn’t want to be a hypocrite. If he was telling others that they needed to have self-control, and yet he himself wasn’t disciplined, he would be a fake.  This reminds me of Matthew 23:27-28, which says “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” I think of all the times when I’ve told people to do or not do things, and yet I was doing the opposite of what I preached. 

There are plenty of people out there (including myself) who talk the talk, but no one has every fully walked the walk, except Jesus. Everyone has some level of hypocrisy in their lives and it’s a daily struggle to live out what we believe. Those verses in Matthew say that the Pharisees and scribes were full of uncleanness, hypocrisy and lawlessness. Their hearts were consistently going against what their mouths said. I relate this to when my parents would tell me to do something - I would obey them outwardly, but I would be complaining and irritated inwardly. 

Hebrews 4:13 says “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to Whom we must give an account.” God sees every single thing we do, say and think. Like we saw in the skit during Kid’s Club - you CAN’T hide from God. Instead of being a hypocrite, preaching the opposite of what we practice, and damaging our witness - we need to admit our faults, practice self-discipline and rely on the Holy Spirit to help us take the log out of our own eye before we pick on the speck in our brother’s eye. 

I’m going to spend an extra 10 minutes during my devotion time to pray for my classmates and for myself - that we would all surrender to Christ, die to ourselves, and practice what we preach.