Woman looking thoughtfully at a trophy labeled achievement beside an open book

Winning in Life: The Power of Listening to Wisdom

“Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and don’t reject your mother’s teaching, for they will be a garland of favor on your head and pendants around your neck.” (Proverbs 1:8-9 CSB – Read the chapter)

It’s fun to win. Winners get trophies and medals and certificates and awards. You can display those where people can see them and know that you won, that you were awesome. They are tangible proof that you accomplished something good or even great. Yes, in a culture that gives participation trophies, winning becomes diluted to the point that no one cares quite as much about it as they once did, but by that kind of progressive, make-everyone-feel-good thinking can’t erase our desire to win entirely. We want to win. Well, Solomon here tells us a way we can win in life. Let’s check out what it is.

REad the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Mark 10:31

“But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Play to win. That’s the mantra – spoken or unspoken – of pretty much every sports team ever. If you’re going to play, you might as well put forth the effort to win. Otherwise, why bother? But just what exactly does it mean to win? Well, it means you beat everyone else. When all of your opponents are defeated and you are the only ones left standing, you have won. My Kansas City Chiefs played to win all last season until they got to the Super Bowl. Then they played to…whatever else it was they were doing…and got absolutely decimated by Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Always Tom Brady… In any event, we did not win. This is just how life works. Well, that’s not quite true. It’s just how life works here, but not in the kingdom of God. There winning takes on an entirely different look.

read the rest…