Race for Grace

Lately I have been hearing a lot of talk about winning races and coming out victorious. One of my teammates made it to the national competition, the rest of us have been breaking school records on the weekly, and in my own life of racing I have been breaking my personal records in multiple distance events. All of this, "winning," and, "victory," have got me thinking about what the victory in life actually is. I have run many races but I've honestly won very few. Does that make me a loser? Does that mean I have failed my talent that was given as a gift from God?

1 Corinthians 9:24 says:

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize."

This verse, on its own gives us the dedication we need to win a race, however, if you read one verse further, 1 Corinthians 9:25 says:

"Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever." 

This verse, to me, lets me KNOW that I am a winner. Others are competing to prove to themselves they can. I'm running my race to thank God that I can. The same goes for life. A lot of people are living their own day to day competition in work, politics, even churches. These competitions allow us to grow and allow us to provide God's will in our lives. As a competitor you must do it for the right reasons, you must race for the Grace to be proven successful. When your focus is on God, rather than selfish wants and needs, you will prove to be much more successful than those who don't. By success, I mean receiving the ultimate prize of life, being saved by Grace and being given an eternal life. Once you have run your race with those goals in mind, THAT is when you become a winner. God is the ultimate form of victory, once he places that crown on your head, you KNOW it'll last forever.