The Games: Running Your Race Trying vs. Training

By Pastor Alex Ruelo

We are responsible for running our own race. We cannot blame anybody else for a race that is not well run. People can help. But ultimately, the growth of your faith is your own burden to bear. Many people are just trying to run their race. But they are not really training to finish well. The end result is not on their mind. Some people are just trying to be Christians because  people are watching. They come to church. They read their bibles. They fellowship with one another. But that is not enough. What are you running on? Are you running on empty?

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 says, “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.” Everybody in a race runs to win; not just to run. As a Christian, do you have a goal? Are you looking forward to getting the prize for which you are running for? If you are in church and you have accepted Jesus in your heart, you are already victorious. And you are already in the race.

Your salvation is your entry to the race; your reward is at the finish line. You do not need to train to enter the race. You do not read the bible to be saved. You do not go to church and worship to enter the race. The bottom line is that everybody will reach the finish line, one after the other. Verse 24 says, Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!” Only one will win. But in the case of Christianity, you are already winners. The question is the prize you will get at the finish line. Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And  let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” You are already in the race ever since you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. But the rewards you will get will be different. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” You are saved by grace and that is the reason why you are going to heaven. The rewards will depend on your run. You make your self stronger while you run by reading the bible, worshipping and fellowshipping wth other believers. Are you running faithfully? 1 Corinthians 3:14-15 says, “If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.” Some will go to heaven but will not get an extra reward. So what is important is that you endure the race until the end and finish well.

True effort is fueled by grace, not striving. Paul says rewards are just temporary. But that does not mean that we will not exert any more effort. Dallas Willard once said, “Grace is not opposed to effort; it is opposed to earning.” People are still trying to earn salvation. But no matter how much they strive to do so, they will not get to heaven. Everything we do for the Lord is an abundance of the grace he has bestowed upon us. Going to church, reading the bible, worshipping the Lord - we do it because of the grace he has showed us. We do not do the latter to get His grace and go to heaven. There is nothing you can do for the Lord to love you because He has loved you at your worst. 1 Timothy 4:7-8 says, “Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”” You need to train yourselves to be godly, fixing your relationship with the Lord while you are here on earth. These all have value at this time and in the times to come. 1 Corinthians 15:10 says, “But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.” Al these things we can do only by the grace of God. We can only depend on Him.

1 Corinthians 9:26-27 says, “So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.” The word “disqualified” originally means “unapproved for the podium.” If you are disqualified you have no reward. That does not mean their citizenship is stripped off. You can look good on the outside but you will eventually fall and be misaligned if you are compromising on the side. True discipline when nobody can see. Integrity is key.

Everybody is running together to achieve a goal, not in competition with each other, but to help each other to the finish line. Work for the reward. Stop trying to be good and start training to be godly.

SALVATION IS A GIFT WRAPPED IN BLOOD, RECEIVED BY FAITH ALONE.

REWARDS ARE A CROWN WON ON THE TRACK, EARNED THROUGH FAITHFUL PARTNERSHIP WITH THE SPIRIT. YOU CANNOT EARN YOUR SALVATION, BUT YOU CAN ABSOLUTELY WASTE YOUR RACE. RUN TO WIN!