(This is a continuation of my last blog – part 1.  We are discussing strategies for winning based on 1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

3. AIM CLEARLY (vs. 26)

            Paul says, “I run in such a way as not without aim.”  I saw a lady in a track meet win her race by several yards but be disqualified because she ran out of her lane for a period.  It is too easy to be distracted, to be unclear about what really matters, to miss the importance of commitment and sacrifice, or to forget that trying too many things is at least as bad in its outcome as trying too few things.  These kinds of things disqualify too many.  Aim means the eliminating of everything but the objective of your aim.  Are there a few things at which you are aiming?  What strategy are you employing to reach them?  Is your aim and strategy in writing? (It should be.)  Is it clear and really important to you? (It should be.)  How about to others?  To try too little is to guarantee a small outcome. To try everything is to guarantee that you will do nothing well.  Aim in order to win.

4. GIVE UP THE RIGHT TO FEEL GOOD IN THE SHORT TERM (vs. 27)

            It’s a sad part of the human condition that we let happiness matter more to us than winning.  Look at the face of the man who scores the winning touchdown.  Happy?  You bet.  Look at that same face when he’s been at practice for two hours in the hot sun and his coach is in his face yelling at him.  Happy?  Not at all.  Yet without paying the price of seemingly thankless preparation, he would not have won.  All the most important things in life require not just self-discipline but self-sacrifice.  That’s the point of verse 27.  Want a great marriage when you’re 60?  Self-sacrifice will be required now.  Want great kids when they’re 35?  More self-sacrifice.  Want great standing when you retire among your peers?  More self-sacrifice.  You have to be prepared to sacrifice good feelings, relaxation, and contentment in the present to be able to win at something in the future.  Nobody gets to the Promised Land on an escalator.  Everybody has to walk over sharp rocks at times.  Part of getting there is being willing to pay that price.

            I hope this helps in your developing a winning strategy.