Winning

Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing- Vince Lombardi

  Our culture has two very distinct and polar opposites views of what being a winner is. The first one is that you are a winner for just showing up and participating. It is geared to make you feel warm and fuzzy and everyone gets a trophy just for showing up. The other view is summed up in the quote above. If you didn’t win, you came in last place. It is about doing whatever it takes to win and this mentality breeds the idea of it isn’t illegal unless you get caught, and even then it still might not be wrong. I think there is a third version of what it means to be a winner and it can be found in Deuteronomy 6. Deuteronomy is Moses farewell letter to the nation of Israel, and he is reminding them of several truths in this chapter.

The first truth is: that we need to Hear. Hearing is more than listening so one can respond to what is being said, but it is also dwelling and understanding what is being said. When we are listening to respond, we often make quick judgements, assumptions that are not always correct while sticking our foot in our mouths. Moses urges us to hear to understand because what he has to say is really important and life changing. There probably is a reason why the good Lord gave us two ears and one mouth.  Its so we can listen more and speak when needed.  Listening also means we hear and process through the tough stuff and that we don't make excuses and we own up to things that need to be owned up to. This allows us to hold on to Truth and to throw out the garbage that comes our way.

The second truth is: there is one God. No matter what our culture tries to tell us, there is only one God and that non of us are Him. God is the Creator of all things and we are apart of His creation. As hard as people try to play God and believe that they can do whatever they want, this is just simply impossible, because it will send all of creation into chaos. In all reality, God is the ultimate judge and jury, and at the end of the day, every person will be held accountable for what they said and done along with their attitudes.

The third truth is: keep it Simple. There is the KISS method of doing life, and it is keep it simple stupid. We trend to mess things up and God knows this, so He gave us a very simple rule and that is that we are to love Him with all we have. This means that God is the center of our lives and everything else will fall into place. It wont always be easy, but we do have a choice. Do we worship ourselves and watch our lives be miserable, or worship God with all we have. When we worship God in everything we do, this leads to the second greatest commandment, which is to love everyone who we come in contact with as ourselves. Our interaction with God will change us, and this means that how we see and interact with people will change to. It is seeing someone not as a pawn in some game, but as a child of the Creator of the universe.

The fourth truth is: to be Teachable. Nobody likes a know it all, and the chances of anyone knowing everything is slim to none. Being teachable requires a lot of humility, patience and putting into practice what one has learned. It also requires critical thinking, being able to discern actions and thoughts to see if they have merit our are a bunch of trash. It also is about finding someone who is worth while to learn from because we become the sum of who we spend the most time with and we let speak into our lives.

Winning is more than drunken tirades on the internet while trying to find tiger blood. In life there is scoreboard and its called eternity and it is for a really long time. To paraphrase what Jesus said, what good is winning here on earth if we loose out on the ultimate walk off, which is spending eternity in the presence and in relationship with the Creator of the Universe. The only way this is possible is if we accept Christ free gift of salvation and we live for God