"Principle untrained may sometimes give way to a temptation which habit would withstand"
- Charles Carroll Everett, Ethics For Young People
Hebrews 5:14
But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
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. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
An untested principle, untrained by regular exercise, may fall victim to temptation. Our habits are shaping who we are becoming... for better or for worse. A principled man in theory may become a disappointed man in reality if he does not, by habit, reinforce his principles by regular, habitual exercise.
"The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war."
Practice is a living application of actual principles. Preparation is principle embodied.
Proverbs 24:10
If you faint in the day of adversity,
your strength is small.
If your principles cannot hold under pressure, they are not your principles.
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