Main Street Baptist Church

(Friday, July 11, 2008) I’ve been running for my whole life, ever since I was old enough to run. I love the feel of it, what it does to my body and mind. A rough estimate would be that I’ve run almost 40,000 miles so far in my life. But since high school I’ve never raced against others. I’ve made it a point to never enter a race or local event. I don’t want to compete against others. You see, I’m a very competitive person and I know I’ll throw myself into the race and become obsessed with training and with the race itself. Then when I don’t do as well as I’d like I’ll be disappointed. (The perfectionism in me always wants to do better.) There’s no enjoyment in that for me. So I never run to beat others. That doesn’t mean I don’t compete because I do. I compete against myself. I keep records about how long it takes to run a certain distance, how many miles I run in a year, etc., and I’m always trying to improve my times and totals. I compete against myself so I become better each year. At 62 years of age I’m definitely slowing down, but I still keep records and lists as I continue to compete against myself.

That’s how it should be when we live for Jesus as well. We aren’t to be competing with others, comparing ourselves, seeing who we can outdo and who we are better than. We aren’t to compare ourselves with anyone but Jesus. Therefore as a Christian I am competing with myself spiritually and emotionally, for I strive to be more Christ like each year. Trying to be better than another person on earth is empty and misleading. It’s hypocrisy. But trying to grow spiritually and become closer to God each day and each year, that’s the kind of progress we all need to have.

Do you seek constantly to improve yourself and move ahead in your walk with the Lord? Are you trying to love Him deeper and serve Him more faithfully than you have in the past? If you are competing with other Christians and evaluating yourself by how you think you compare to them you’re missing what the Christian life is all about. There’s only one person we have to out perform – and that’s ourselves! So how are you doing against that standard? What can you do to improve? Where is progress most needed? Compete against yourself – there’s always room for improvement!