FIGHT!!
"Success is never final; failure is never fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts". Winston Churchill
I honestly don't know where Mr. Churchill was in relation to the Gospel during his lifetime, but what an awesome quote for us who are Christians!!
"Success is never final". We never "arrive". We cannot trust our victories in the past to sustain us in the present or protect us in the future. There is a long and winding road fraught with trouble that we must run down, and called to run we are... "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" Heb 12.1. Too often I give up and sit down on the roadside and cry. Or worse yet, I look for shortcuts or routes that are more fun (and thus sinful because I have left the road). Running is hard work. Of all forms of exercise, running has to be my least favorite. I only like running if I feel like I'm running to something. For instance, I like running through the woods because I feel like I'm exploring, seeing what's around the next bend and over the next hill. But still, after awhile, I get tired and want to give up. The Christian life is like that. Even when we know we are running Home to Christ, we get tired and want to quit. It is in those times that we must run the hardest and focus on our goal, the will and pleasure of our King.
"Failure is never fatal". Oh how I need to be reminded of this! One of my greatest fears is failure. Maybe it is my greatest fear. Consequently, I don't try. If given a challenge, I play possum, I roll up and act dead, or at least comatose. And therefore, I don't really live. I sit wondering what could happen if I got out there and DID something. I'm slowly but surely becoming more bold. By the grace of God, I will become as bold as He wishes me to be. But for now I need to remember that failure is not fatal. When I fail, which seems to be daily, I have to keep running, no matter how bruised and broken I am.
"It is the courage to continue that counts". Continuing. Persevering. Some of the hardest aspects of life are summed up in those words. It takes great courage to fail, to sin, to be ignored, to be hurt and yet to refuse to give up or to give in.
My favorite trilogy is...well, most of you know what's coming...The Lord of the Rings. In the Return of the King, Gandalf is leading the forces of Gondor against the armies of Mordor. In one scene, a huge battering ram is being used to knock down the gate of the City (brownie points to the person who can tell me the name of the ram, and yes it has a name). Gandalf looks to the soliders whose courage is floundering and shouts, "You are soliders of Gondor. No matter what comes through that gate, you will stand your ground!" We too are called to stand our ground no matter what comes through the "Gates" of our lives. Earlier in the movie, when the hosts of Mordor first begin the battle, after knocking out the cowardly and mad Denethor, Gandalf cries out, "Prepare for battle! Defend the Walls!...FIGHT!" This too is our call. We are to daily prepare for battle, to defend what is true and right and to fight to the death no matter what. "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day..." Eph. 6.12-13. No, our fight is not against orcs, trolls and Ringwraiths. Our fight is against our sins, our world and the devil. We are not fighting orcs and our weapons are not swords (though I wish I owned one!). But we are to fight just as passionately and skillfully. We are to live so that in the end we can say with Paul, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" 2 Tim4.7.
I honestly don't know where Mr. Churchill was in relation to the Gospel during his lifetime, but what an awesome quote for us who are Christians!!
"Success is never final". We never "arrive". We cannot trust our victories in the past to sustain us in the present or protect us in the future. There is a long and winding road fraught with trouble that we must run down, and called to run we are... "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" Heb 12.1. Too often I give up and sit down on the roadside and cry. Or worse yet, I look for shortcuts or routes that are more fun (and thus sinful because I have left the road). Running is hard work. Of all forms of exercise, running has to be my least favorite. I only like running if I feel like I'm running to something. For instance, I like running through the woods because I feel like I'm exploring, seeing what's around the next bend and over the next hill. But still, after awhile, I get tired and want to give up. The Christian life is like that. Even when we know we are running Home to Christ, we get tired and want to quit. It is in those times that we must run the hardest and focus on our goal, the will and pleasure of our King.
"Failure is never fatal". Oh how I need to be reminded of this! One of my greatest fears is failure. Maybe it is my greatest fear. Consequently, I don't try. If given a challenge, I play possum, I roll up and act dead, or at least comatose. And therefore, I don't really live. I sit wondering what could happen if I got out there and DID something. I'm slowly but surely becoming more bold. By the grace of God, I will become as bold as He wishes me to be. But for now I need to remember that failure is not fatal. When I fail, which seems to be daily, I have to keep running, no matter how bruised and broken I am.
"It is the courage to continue that counts". Continuing. Persevering. Some of the hardest aspects of life are summed up in those words. It takes great courage to fail, to sin, to be ignored, to be hurt and yet to refuse to give up or to give in.
My favorite trilogy is...well, most of you know what's coming...The Lord of the Rings. In the Return of the King, Gandalf is leading the forces of Gondor against the armies of Mordor. In one scene, a huge battering ram is being used to knock down the gate of the City (brownie points to the person who can tell me the name of the ram, and yes it has a name). Gandalf looks to the soliders whose courage is floundering and shouts, "You are soliders of Gondor. No matter what comes through that gate, you will stand your ground!" We too are called to stand our ground no matter what comes through the "Gates" of our lives. Earlier in the movie, when the hosts of Mordor first begin the battle, after knocking out the cowardly and mad Denethor, Gandalf cries out, "Prepare for battle! Defend the Walls!...FIGHT!" This too is our call. We are to daily prepare for battle, to defend what is true and right and to fight to the death no matter what. "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day..." Eph. 6.12-13. No, our fight is not against orcs, trolls and Ringwraiths. Our fight is against our sins, our world and the devil. We are not fighting orcs and our weapons are not swords (though I wish I owned one!). But we are to fight just as passionately and skillfully. We are to live so that in the end we can say with Paul, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" 2 Tim4.7.
posted by Elder at 1:34 PM
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