Winning the Biggest Battle

Richard Halverson writes ‘Do you want to be a winner? Compete against yourself, not somebody else. Outrunning your rival doesn’t mean you ran your best race. You can win over another and still not fulfill your potential. To be your best you must compete with yourself. It’s life’s biggest contest. A loser is a winner – however many his losses – if he conquers himself. And a winner is a loser – however many his victories – if he loses in the battle with himself. Alexander the Great conquered the world, yet cursed his own lack of self-control. Victory over others may in fact be the very thing that contributes to the winner’s failure to conquer self. Winning makes him arrogant, independent, thoughtless – and sometimes cruel. To put it another way, it isn’t what happens to you that makes the difference, but how you handle it. The one who stops maturing spiritually, is still far from being what God has planned for him.’

If you must compare yourself with another, compare yourself with Christ. “Christ … is your example. Follow in His steps: He never sinned, never told a lie, never answered back when insulted; when He suffered He did not threaten to get even; He left His case in the hands of God who always judges fairly” (1 Peter). Go ahead, measure yourself by that standard! And when you see how far short you fall, ask God to mould and fashion your life into the full potential, the divine original He intended. Do that, and you win the biggest battle of all!

Rev Peter Morphew
Chaplain