Practice Makes Perfect

“Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing.”
1 Corinthians 9:26

When I first read this sentence I had to pause for a moment. Sure, I followed St. Paul when he was talking about not running aimlessly thing. Got it, run with a purpose! However, the second part of this sentence really confused me and I found it hard to understand. The whole shadowboxing thing really threw me off, and St. Paul was officially not making any sense. So, I did a bit of research and found out what this whole shadowboxing thing is.

I found that shadowboxing is an exercise used to prepare a fighter’s muscles in training before the real fight. In shadowboxing, only one person is required to participate. Boxers mainly do this as they throw pretend punches at no one in particular but rather to develop skill, quickness, form, and focus.

I realized we all do a bit of daily shadowboxing. We fight some nameless and faceless battles of our own. Everyday we’re fighting against pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, and sloth. Each of these struggles is like a shadow and sometimes we don’t even realize that they’re there. But even when we know they are present in our life, we still try to hide from them and often run to them aimlessly because we feel comfortable. Ultimately, these struggles and deadly sins pull us further from Christ, bring us down, and let the devil in.

Have you ever thought about how many times you run from Christ into the shadows thinking that things can’t change or you’re just not strong enough to make a change in your life? Sure these struggles may seem unbearable at times but during this liturgical season more so than any other, step out of your box and take up your cross with Christ. Let Christ box in your corner for once. Let us run with a purpose towards Christ and fight the battle with him instead of fighting alone.