Rally Cry for Christ! Deny Yourself.
After some tough games, we need a pep talk, we need the cheerleaders, we need the fans to encourage, and we need the players to be determined they will fight for the team. With these in place, we can see that the enemy may have injured us in the battle, but the fight is far from over.
There are 3 words in our society that will cause people to become upset and angry very quickly. Submit. Accountability. Deny. The two teams in 1 Corinthians are the natural team, wanting what the flesh wants, and the spiritual team, embracing the ability to submit to Christ and be willing to do it gladly. Christ is dealing with the transition from the natural to the spiritual. If we submit ourselves to Christ and if we hold each other accountable, we move the whole body forward. We move the team from natural to spiritual. Because we want the spiritual team to win!
Sometimes we have to deny ourselves to think outside. What does God want? What does God really want from me? We must deny ourselves because our self is in the way of helping the team! We must shed self, put it behind us, so there is nothing but Christ before us.