Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?

Run in such a way as to get the prize.

 1 Corinthians 9:24 (NIV)

The Apostle Paul teaches that we’re in the race of life not just to run, not just to survive, not just to show up, but to win the prize. 

What does that mean, spiritually? It means we should run at a pace that allows us to win.If that pace involves running uphill at times, so be it. If it means running through dangerous terrain, or if it necessitates going around runners who distract and obstruct, we do so. Sometimes in the race of life, we are called to motivate others to pick up their pace, orto have the crucial conversations with those who keep crossing over into our lane. 

We should expect all of these things and none of them should cause us to quit, because we’re not in the race for the comfort of the track. We’re not in the race for the ease of the run. We’re not in the race for whowe’re partnered with. We are in the race to win the prize, which is to be conformed to the image of Christ. 

I want my calling to outpace my fleshly desires. I want my prayers to outpace my inner drives. I want the Lord’s will to outpace my will. Don’t you? We have to win the race that matters. 

I'm not trying to live a good life; I'm trying to live my best life. I'm not trying to live stress-free; I'm trying to honor the adventurethe Lord designed for me. His racecourse will be fraught with Pharaohs and Goliaths and mountains and vipers and Judases and Calvarys, but none of those things can stop us unless we make the choice to change our pace. If you are in the race to win it, none of those obstructions will hinder you from keeping your eyes on the prize.

Your motivation for running is to get what God’s will has for you, to get His good pleasure, to grow closer to Him through it all. You are in it to win it! And you can win it, because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.