24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
25 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
26Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air;
27but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
Self-control or discipline is something that is essential in breaking free of the hold of sexual immorality. While God will help you tremendously, you still have to put forth your own effort or else the change will never take place. I talked about this before in my preparation post with my morning routine, which unfortunately I have fallen away from. Having fallen away from that routine of study and physical discipline, my discipline in the realm of sexual purity started to slip as well. It wasn’t until I picked back up the routine of study and exercise that I started to bring myself back under control. When we discipline ourselves in some areas of our lives, other ares of our life begin to follow suit, this is called synergy. We have to discipline ourselves if we ever want to win the battle for our sexual purity, because one thing that both good soldiers and runners have in common, discipline.
Now for the all important question, how do we discipline ourselves? Well there are many areas of your life you can start in, for me its bible study and exercise. Every morning, I try to do some kind of reading in the Bible, either by continuing my read through the new testament or in a devotional book. Then for exercising, every other day when I get back from work, before I do anything else I go out and run around my neighborhood. As I become more disciplined in this I will start adding in other areas of my life, like watching what I eat and making sure my blog stays updated. If I can start being disciplined in these areas of my life, discipline in my sexual life will start coming about as well. So keep trying, and always remember that there is no fall that God can’t pick up back up from.