The bell rang and before you know he had already fought 11 rounds. Obviously drained, broken, and exhausted he mustered enough strength to walk back to his corner. His Corner Man asked him, “Are you ready to throw in the towel?” The boxer responded, “Not yet!” His Corner Man than insisted that he throw in the towel because of his broken thumb. Even if the boxer made it through the 12th round he would still lose. Reluctantly, the injured boxer agrees and the towel of surrender falls! In the locker room the Corner Man said, “Son, the reason you lost this fight is because it was never a real fight to begin with, you were fighting against your self.” As Christians there is never a time when we are not battling with sin which severely devalues shadow boxing. Paul said in 1 Cor 9:26, “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. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” It’s important not to neglect the war on sin however, it behooves us to take heed in properly fighting against sin by seeking Christ’s help to mortify and kill the desires of our flesh.