Winners and Losers.

Pastor Gregg asked us to choose one word to explain who we were BEFORE Christ versus AFTER.  I chose “loser.” 

I was a LOSER.

I was bad at things, failed things, broke things, lost things, ruined things.  I started late, quit early, did things with half-effort, and the results were bad: loser effort produced loser results.  As harsh as the word is, it was not hard to choose: Loser encapsulated my life without Jesus. (To be fair, simple childishness and immaturity played as big a role as my bad habits.)

But it was hard to choose a single word for my life with Christ.  “Winner” did not feel accurate. 

I was not a WINNER.

Jesus did not simply turn a loser into a winner.

Nor did the word “achiever” encapsulate my life with Christ.  “Success” was wrong.  “Fulfilled” was wrong.  Nothing fit, because life is not as simple as winning and losing. 

Christianity is not about winning and losing, success or failure, victory or defeat.  In fact, godly, obedient Christians experience failure all the time.  Defeat is part of the Christian journey.  But wins and losses are not the point.

Walking with the Lord did not bring me from losing to winning.  Rather it brought me from losing to ABIDING.  “I am the Vine, you are the branches. If you abide in Me, you will bear much fruit. But apart from Me, you can do nothing” John 15:5.

Before I walked with Him, I was a loser because I was disconnected from the Source of life, hope, motivation, and order.  Now I try to abide in the vine, to take my orders from Him—to seek HIS WILL and not my own.  Sometimes I win (or what the world considers winning), other times I lose.  But whether winning or losing, I BEAR FRUIT. 

I BEAR FRUIT.

Walking with Christ is not about wins and losses, but about ABIDING IN THE VINE and bearing fruit for God.

“Solomon finished the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. Everything that had entered Solomon’s heart to do for the Lord’s temple and for his own palace succeeded” 2 Chronicles 7:11.

God chose Solomon to be king and to build the temple.  Solomon remained in the center of God’s will and “everything succeeded.”  Solomon was a “winner” because he sought to do God’s will and not his own.

God, teach us to abide in the vine—to seek Your will and obey You in every decision.

ΑΩ