Monday, January 30, 2023

I have a question for you. Think about the people in your life whom you admire the most. What do they have in common?

I would venture to guess it is because they are successful at what they do. You view them as winners in life. I would also venture to guess that, if you’re like me, there may be people in the same successful category whom you despise because it seems like everything they touch turns to gold. If we’re honest, we often wish we could be more like them.

When you really break it down, though, what we each consider winning in life can be entirely different. For example, I consider it a win if, in the morning, I can place both feet on the floor and stand up without feeling aches and pain. Trust me, at my age, that is a win, and I am thankful that I am blessed with that win on a daily basis. For you, it may be something just as simple that you consider a win, like being on time for work or making sure you took time for that cup of coffee before starting your day. For others, a win may be something on a much larger scale.

Last weekend, we continued our For the Win series. We were told, in general, many of us tend to think the bigger the goal, the better the win. But this is not true—bigger does not necessarily mean better.

The truth is, no matter what success or failure we may have in life, we all want to be winners. In his message, Pastor Ben talked about the concept of winning each day by leveraging opportunities in your reality.

This requires understanding how to make wise choices and not be foolish.

Ephesians 5:15-16
¹⁵ So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. ¹⁶ Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.

Ben introduced a three-step framework we can use to win daily:

1. See reality;
2. See opportunity; and
3. Make the most of it.

Continue to read this week’s LIO to discover the details on how this is done. Together, let’s learn how to avoid the foolish and use winning wisdom instead.

Questions:
What do you consider a win in life?

Do you find yourself comparing your winning status in life to those around you?

Next Steps:
Read the LIO the rest of this week to learn the three-step framework.

Join a Group to develop relationships that will celebrate your wins in life and help you through the struggles.

Prayer:
Oh Lord, my God, sometimes I struggle to feel like I am winning at life. Help me to realize that my failures don’t define me because in you, I have all I need to win. Help me to be wise in seeing reality, recognizing opportunities, and making the most of them. Help me to always stay humble and remember that each win in life is a blessing from you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

This post was written by Ned Miller. Ned loves serving through writing on the LIO team, prayer team, group leader and as a greeter. He loves spending time with his family and working on his model railroad.