JANUARY 2026 STUDY: BEING PREPARED
- Jan 16
- 3 min read
Week 2: Preparing Will Cost You Something
Day 5: What You Give Up Determines What You Can Carry
Core Scripture:1 Corinthians 9:25 (NIV)
“Every athlete who 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.”
When the Apostle Paul writes to the church in Corinth, he’s speaking to people who live in a city shaped by competition, achievement, and public recognition. Corinth hosts the Isthmian Games, second only to the Olympic Games in importance. Athletes train for months, sometimes years, under strict discipline. They give up certain foods, pleasures, freedoms, and social lives. No one is forced to do this. They choose it because they understand the prize.
Paul has just spent time explaining his own choices as a leader. Although he has rights, status, and freedom, he deliberately limits himself. He refuses financial support at times, adapts his behaviour in different cultures, and disciplines his own desires - not because these things are sinful, but because they could restrict his effectiveness. This matters. Paul is not correcting failure. He’s describing preparation.
By the time he uses the image of the athlete, his readers already understand the point. Preparation always involves voluntary loss. Athletes don’t complain about what they give up because they know what they’re training for. Paul uses this familiar image to challenge believers to think differently about spiritual readiness. Eternal purpose, he argues, deserves at least the same level of intentional preparation as a temporary crown. The message is clear. Discipline isn’t about restriction for its own sake. It’s about capacity. What we’re willing to give up reveals what we’re preparing to carry.
Preparation isn’t just about adding more strength. It’s about removing what gets in the way. Athletes don’t train by carrying everything with them. They strip things back because extra weight slows them down. A lot of people want the results without doing the work. They want the perks before the work, the glory without the story. They’re happy to rock up for the bow, but not always for the hours that happen before anyone is watching.
Preparation doesn’t work like that. It demands discipline long before applause. We don’t usually struggle because we lack calling. We struggle because we won’t let go of what competes with it. Old habits, constant noise, busy routines, and comfortable patterns all take up space. None of these things are always wrong, but they do limit what we can carry.
God often prepares us by taking things away, not adding more. Not to punish us, but to strengthen us. What feels like loss can actually be protection. What feels restrictive can be preparation. We sometimes ask God for more responsibility, more clarity, or more influence without noticing that our hands are already full. Preparation forces an uncomfortable but necessary question: what am I carrying that I won’t be able to take into the next stage?
What you give up determines what you can carry. Capacity doesn’t grow by holding on tighter. It grows when you’re willing to let go of what no longer fits.
Declarations
I decree that I’m willing to release what slows my obedience.
I declare that I trust God when He asks me to let go.
As a child of God, I make space for what He’s preparing me to carry.
Prayer
Father, thank You for the future You’re preparing me for me. Give me wisdom to see what weighs me down and courage to let it go. Help me trust that what You remove is making room for something better. Prepare me to carry what You entrust to me with strength and faithfulness. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.
Applications
This week, take an honest look at what fills your time, attention, and energy.
Ask the Holy Spirit to show you one thing that adds weight without adding purpose.
Don’t try to change everything at once. Start with one deliberate choice to let something go.
Preparation often begins with deciding what you’re not going to carry forward.
Make a note of what the Holy Spirit is revealing to you - and respond in obedience.
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