Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. (1 Corinthians 9:24, NASB).
I am what some might call a “football mom.” I have four boys who play the sport, and although it doesn’t define our lives, I am around it a lot. I get a front row seat to the amount of physical training that goes into it.
If you ever watch a team of ten year olds running sprints, you will notice one thing: most of them look around to see how they compare to the others as they run.
Most don’t try to win. They merely try to not finish last, and they do just enough to meet their mediocre goal. They run so as to look “reasonable” in their efforts and finish “respectably” as compared to the others. Their primary goal in running is to not be humiliated when compared to the other runners.
Those that win do it differently.
They focus all their energy forward, keeping their eyes on the finish line. They don’t care what others around them are doing. They simply strive to go as hard and as fast as they can, believing that if they do, they will win.
Looking back, there was a freeing moment in my family’s Christian “race.” It was the moment when my husband and I, by God’s grace, unshackled ourselves from what is considered a “reasonable” standard of obedience and love for Christ. We said “Let’s trust Christ for our strength and just see how fast and how hard we can run for Him.”
You can read the rest of my post here, on Visionary Womanhood.
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