Winning isn't Everything....But Neither is Loosing!

You've most likely heard the phrase, "Winning isn't everything." It is very true, isn't it? However, loosing isn't everything, either! No one wants to loose all of the time. Our daughter, Lauren, will tell you that. Their junior high basketball team has lost thirty-six games in a row! They have not won one game in two years. However, I will say that this year they had a few that were closer and actually were ahead in one or two at the beginning of the games. The junior high girls have high hopes for the upcoming basketball season this fall. They want to break that loosing streak!

Another example is our son, Jacob. His baseball team last summer only won one regular season game. They were so excited and so were the coaches and parents! You would have thought they had won the World Series! Then tournament began and they won the first game and almost won the second one, too. Everyone was still excited because the team as a whole had improved. This year is a completely different story. Jacob's team has only lost twice and it was to the same team both times. They are first in their league and will play for the championship tomorrow evening. Guess who they're playing??? Yep! That same team for the third time! Either way it goes, they've had a great year.

It's fun to win. It's not so fun to loose. However, it's just as important to learn to be a good "winner" as it is to be a good "looser". Some people cannot handle defeat. Children learn to handle defeat and success by watching their parents and other adults. Hopefully they are seeing good examples by watching their parents and other adults, but sadly, often they are not.

Ball games are fun. We understand that there's always a winner and a looser. Sometimes one team gets a prize and the other team doesn't. That's the name of the game. But, there is one prize we all want. Paul talked about "games" and this "prize" in 1 Corinthians.

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. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Yes, the race we are in now is the race or game that can result in a prize that is incomparable to any prize that can ever be won on earth. That prize is the crown of life and a Heavenly home with God for all eternity! That's one game none of us want to loose!