Enslave Your Body for a Greater Purpose.

Athletes train to win a prize.  When they finally win that prize all their training has paid off; then what? They can try to win it again and again but soon because of age and other issues they can no longer win that prize that they have won so many times before.  Their purpose is lost. Their reason for training is gone.  Ya sure they can turn their focus to another prize and different way to train but that is just an endless cycle that is inevitably coming to an end.

Instead of being enslaved by the prize and a slave to winning prizes, enslave your body in such a way that no matter if you get the prize or not, that your purpose, desire, and motivation is greater than the prize; to the point where it is not about the prize.

Some times people build their self image and worth around how they look and what skills they have.  Then, when those looks and skills fade, its almost like they gave up on life itself.  All they can remember and all people can talk about is their past and not their present or future.  Most in that situation would never want to talk about their present and future because everyone, including themselves, can see where its heading.  Trusting in your self image and your image as your worth is like building your house on ice cubes in the desert.  The ice will melt and your house will fall and there is nothing you can do to stop it.  Your image of being a body builder, super star athlete, and super healthy guru are going to fade and you can't do anything about it.

Those who train and enslave their bodies to higher things never lose their self image and worth.  Their value and identity doesn't fade or lost forever because its based on something greater than what is naturally breaking down.  They build self-control, discipline, while maintaining their body for matter what stage if natural gets to.

Its good and necessary to have health goals.  In fact your health goals will change throughout life.  You may want to gain weight while your in your 20s,  lose weight while your in your 40s, fight to maintain what you have left in your 70s; but those are all still goals.  But building up your self image and self worth based on your body is going to fail.

Worshiping your failing body is moronic.  Ultimately being healthy is the slowest rate of death.  To have super high goals and having to maintain a certain self fulfilling physical image that requires a lot of your money, time, social sacrifice, family sacrifice, and so on; is self worship and slavery by conceptual definition.

By raising the bar and having a higher reason for health you subtract and remove your selfishness.  Your worth becomes separate from your failing body. Your self image and identity becomes separate and never lost or faded.  No can not become enslaved by your failing body when your body is not your center of worship.

"ENSLAVE YOUR BODY OR BECOMING YOUR BODIES SLAVE"

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

English Standard Version (ESV)

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. ²⁵ Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. ²⁶ So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. ²⁷ But I discipline my body andkeep it under control,^[a] lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.