"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."
2 Timothy 4:7 (NKJV)
When I was in high school I used to compete in various running events. There were always three parts to the race, the start, the actual race, and the finish. When they lined everyone up at the start of the race, some people were in better positions than others but I don't remember anyone ever crying because of where they started. Even during the race itself, someone might not have been in the best position in the middle of the race but that did not really matter either, what mattered is where you finished the race.
The Apostle Paul did not start out well; he was actually fighting against God's plan and the spread of the Gospel before he became a Christian. When he wrote his second letter to Timothy, Paul knew that the end of his physical life was near. Did Paul talk about his regrets from the past and all of the mistakes he had made? Did Paul say that he wished he would have been born into a better situation or that he could not succeed because he did not have some advantages that others had in life? No, Paul talked about how he had finished the race God had given him to run, even though he did not start out in the best position.
No one starts out in a perfect situation with every advantage in life; no one has a problem free existence. We should not look back at our past but instead realize that no matter where we start, or even where we are now, we can finish strong. We may have come from a bad family or a bad economic situation, but we don't have to stay there. It does not matter where you were born, what matters is that you were born again and that you have a loving heavenly Father who wants to help you. Do like Paul did and fight the good fight of faith and overcome all of the obstacles in your path so that one day you too can say that you have finished the race God gave you to run.
2 Timothy 4:7 (NKJV)
When I was in high school I used to compete in various running events. There were always three parts to the race, the start, the actual race, and the finish. When they lined everyone up at the start of the race, some people were in better positions than others but I don't remember anyone ever crying because of where they started. Even during the race itself, someone might not have been in the best position in the middle of the race but that did not really matter either, what mattered is where you finished the race.
The Apostle Paul did not start out well; he was actually fighting against God's plan and the spread of the Gospel before he became a Christian. When he wrote his second letter to Timothy, Paul knew that the end of his physical life was near. Did Paul talk about his regrets from the past and all of the mistakes he had made? Did Paul say that he wished he would have been born into a better situation or that he could not succeed because he did not have some advantages that others had in life? No, Paul talked about how he had finished the race God had given him to run, even though he did not start out in the best position.
No one starts out in a perfect situation with every advantage in life; no one has a problem free existence. We should not look back at our past but instead realize that no matter where we start, or even where we are now, we can finish strong. We may have come from a bad family or a bad economic situation, but we don't have to stay there. It does not matter where you were born, what matters is that you were born again and that you have a loving heavenly Father who wants to help you. Do like Paul did and fight the good fight of faith and overcome all of the obstacles in your path so that one day you too can say that you have finished the race God gave you to run.
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