1 Corinthians 9:24-27 - The Need For Self-Discipline
24 Do you not know that in the foot-race the runners all run, but that only one gets the prize? You must run like him, in order to win with certainty. 25 But every competitor in an athletic contest practices abstemiousness in all directions. They indeed do this for the sake of securing a perishable wreath, but we for the sake of securing one that will not perish. 26 That is how I run, not being in any doubt as to my goal. I am a boxer who does not inflict blows on the air, 27 but I hit hard and straight at my own body and lead it off into slavery, lest possibly, after I have been a herald to others, I should myself be rejected.