This Is How You Win!

New International Version (NIV)

11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

Nobody likes to lose. I believe it was Vince Lombardi who said, “Winning is not everything, it’s the only thing!” It was the Apostle Paul who said, “Don’t just run to be running, but run in such a way as to win.” It was DJ Khalid who said, “All we do is win, win, win, no matter what!” What’s the use of playing if you’re not trying to win?

Each of us should be trying to win every time we wake up in the morning…not trophies, not beauty contests, not lotteries but there is something way more important at stake. We should be trying to win the respect of people who don’t know God or believe in Jesus. More than ever we are living in a time when people are asking, “Why follow God or believe in Jesus?” Many Christians aren’t helping much because we are acting like losers.

It used to bother me when I was in elementary school playing kickball and the teacher would split us into teams. It never failed that the teacher would put some cute “girly, girl” on my team who didn’t want to get dirty or win. The ball would come her way and she would scream and move out of the way of the ball on purpose! Don’t put anybody on my team that doesn’t want to win!

As Christians we can’t be so cute that we don’t get dirty for Jesus. Here’s how we win:

Be ambitious to live a quiet life. Ambition and quiet seem like odd words together but we should strive to live a peaceful life. We should never be accused of disturbing the peace.
Mind your own business. We should not be involved in hearsay and gossip. Don’t be a messy person. We do well to sweep around our own front door.
Work with your hands. Find something productive to do. Make yourself useful. Even if you are unemployed, find something helpful to do. Your gifts make room for you and bring you into the presence of great men. Join a team and play your role to help them win.
When we do these things we win the respect of outsiders by the way we live out our daily lives. When you live respectable lives you win the respect of others.

Dear God,

Help me to live my life everyday respectfully. I want people to see Jesus in me. In the way I talk, walk, act, live. People want to be on a winning team. Help me set the pace in the way I live out my life that people would want to follow Jesus. Today, I’m going to be a winner for you.

In Jesus Name,

Amen