We all want to be winners. We’re hard wired to survive and scramble for top position. For some, winning comes easy and for others it never comes. Victory. I told myself it wasn’t that important. If there’s a drawing to win, I won’t. If teams are chosen, I’m last. It’s just the way it is.
But it is important.
Christ set us free for freedoms’ sake. For his sake. He didn’t set us free so we would struggle and believe the lies of defeat. Victory is important. Winning is important because God wins in the end. At the end of it all when the dust settles and the fight is over, God is triumphant. You and I need to have winning attitudes.
In Christ, I am victorious. I don’t have to live defeated and it’s something I have to remind myself of everyday. You are victorious. But maybe you doubt it? Maybe you think winning is bad. We live in a world where children receive trophies for participation rather than for winning. But participation in the kingdom of God isn’t our end goal. Victory is.
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your mind; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-24 NIV
Step One to Victory
The first step to victory is to put off our old selves. We’ve been given a new identity in Christ. We’ve been covered with robes of righteousness. The problem is that sometimes we still wear our ratty, smelly clothes underneath. So that stinky sock? Throw it away. That shirt that’s seen better days? Burn it. Colossians 3:8-9 has a lovely little list of stinky clothes we need to throw away: anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language, and lying. Throw them all off if you can, and if you can’t, then tackle them one by one.
Step Two to Victory
The second step is to be made new in the attitude of our minds. It doesn’t work to merely change our outsides. That is temporary change that burns up like dried kindling when under pressure. Lasting change happens when our minds are changed: specifically the attitude of our minds. An attitude is a tendency or orientation of the mind. So if you’re trying to put off swearing, but you’re still thinking it, eventually it will slip to the surface. If you’re acting cordial to someone, but in your mind you’re thinking the worst of the person, it will be made known. Our attitudes must be renewed and the power of Christ does that for us.
Step Three to Victory
The third step is to put on the new self. The gift of righteousness is given to us through Jesus Christ and God sees us as righteous, but in order to love people as he commanded, we must put on righteousness so others can see God in us. Colossians 3:12-14 gives us a list of our new clothes: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and love. Once we’ve exchanged unkindness for kindness, throwing kindness around like confetti becomes easier. Loving others becomes a reflection of selflessness.
We achieve victory in this life when we put off our old selves, have our attitudes in our minds renewed, and when we put on the new self. It won’t matter if you’re chosen for the team or you win a contest or if you’re the slowest runner in the race. It won’t matter because you know that in God’s eyes your life victory is assured and everything else is merely a training ground for you to learn to walk in that victory.
But running clothes are cute. So then, maybe, I should run. Just so I can look cute.
Nah.
But I do run towards Christ because I’m on a pilgrimage.
It’s a journey we walk, run and battle our way through. We set our hearts. We fix our eyes. And we move our feet.
“I will run in the way of your commandments for you set my heart free.” Psalm 119:32
I don’t know about you, but this whole life thing can trip me up, trap me fast, and triple my heartache. My heart sometimes doesn’t feel free.
It gets caught up in performance or perfection. My heart trades worldly wisdom for godly wisdom. It mistakes man’s words for God’s word. Lies snare. Idols form. And soon I’ve traded the glory of God for a false light. Then I no longer run, but stub my toe on a rock, trip over a boulder, and tumble down the cliff.
I sit stunned and wonder how I got here. You too? Do you feel like you stumble more than you run? Do you want to know how to run? I do, too.
Reveal Your Heart
Ask God to show you your heart. It’s okay if you cringe, I know I do. But this is the deal. We can forget, for a while, the contents of our hearts and fool ourselves into thinking that nasty little section that gossips or harbors bitterness isn’t really there, but God sees all. Only instead of following our example by condemning us, he lovingly convicts. Because how can we run free if our hearts are bound to sin?
How can we run free when we are bound to performance or perfection? How can we be free if we are more worried about what other’s think of us instead of doing what’s right in God’s eyes? When fear rules our lives, we cannot be free.
So. Freedom to run. Not away, but towards God. It comes when our hearts are set free of any sin that stops forward momentum. Freedom comes when we know who we are in Christ and when we surrender all to him.
I know that my ability to run lies in how open I make my heart to God. Will I let him have unfettered access? Will I risk trusting him with the most intimate details of my life?
Take the Risk
It’s risky. This journey we’re on. But one unequivocally worth it. So, how do we run? We fix our eyes on Jesus. We give the Holy Spirit full access to our heart. And we trust God for strength and endurance.
We can do it. I know it looks hard, but running well is a benefit of freedom. Step into the freedom and run. He has set your heart free.
Our paths take us through valleys and mountaintops.
We linger in Vanity Fair.
We dance with Ignorance.
We battle Giants.
We wrestle Pride.
All the while we march ever onward, ever upward with our eyes fixed on the perfecter and finisher of our faith.
Maybe you’re on a battlefield and the giants are about to crush you. Or you’re lingering in vanity fair where all things pleasurable tempt and distract you from your purpose.
It could be that pride is having it’s way with you and ignorance is deceiving you.
But either way–it’s time to get up again.
Hope is calling your name.
Lift up your weary head and look to the source of your strength: God.
It is he who carries you. He gives you the strength to take the next step. He inspires you and whispers encouraging words to help you onward and upward.
“Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.” Psalm 84:5
Rest. Then respond.
He will fight your battles–the battle of complacency that we sometimes don’t even know we’re in. But we are. It’s found at the end of the day when we can’t remember the beginning. We discover it when we forget to care about others. We run into it when we resist change.
We grow weary and stumble in this journey of onwards and upwards. But we have this hope:
“As they [you] pass through the Valley of Baca, they [you] make it a place o springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They [you] go from strength to strength till each appears before God in Zion.” Psalm 84:6-7
We journey strength to strength.
That’s how we make progress. We go from God’s strength here to God’s strength there. One jaunt at a time.
And as we do so–the valley of bitterness is turned into a valley of growth and refreshment.
This is a journey we all can take. Will you step out and onward? I’ll be cheering you on!
