Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. 4. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. 5 And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you. 6 For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child. (Hebrew 12:1-6)
While willpower can help you start a new habit or resist a temptation, discipline is what maintains progress over time. For example, willpower might get you to go to the gym on a tough day, but discipline ensures you continue going regularly, turning exercise into a consistent habit.
I think most would agree that it would be best if we had more willpower and discipline in our lives. I know this to be true because I often hear people express their need for more discipline in their lives, especially as they refer to their health and diets or lack thereof: “I just wish I had the willpower to…”
Yes, we all know that leading a disciplined life will pay great dividends in all areas of our lives. However, it’s odd to me that I rarely hear people refer to needing willpower over sin in their lives, as much as they stress over their health or diets. Maybe it’s more typical for many to feel that the forces of this world overwhelmingly control their lives, seemingly enticing and guiding them to do things they know are not best…following like sheep to the slaughter with nothing to say.
Why is it that so many people don’t view a lack of willpower as being their main problem in overcoming sinful things in their lives? We assume most people don’t want to air their dirty laundry, but as flies on the wall, we know that’s simply not true. They air their health issues out like clothes drying on a line for everyone to see; their injuries, their sicknesses—boy, people sure like to talk about the pain in their bodies and the suffering they endure.
A fly would have to wait a long time on the wall to overhear a conversation about how their neglecting God’s commands and rebelling against His laws. I’ve come to realize that many people don’t want to talk about sin or what they should be doing to overcome it. It’s just not what people want to talk about… I get it—but then again, I don’t.
People tend to lock those thoughts in their vaults, feeling it’s better to stick with talking about their pain and sickness… Not giving much thought or credence to the beating Jesus took, as He bore their sickness and disease. Did they forget about the cross? Maybe so, or perhaps not? One thing is for certain: they don’t often forget to think about themselves.
No, people don’t talk much about the sin in their lives, but they do often talk about being sick, injured, or in pain. God doesn’t want you sick or unhealthy any more than He wants you to be sinful, so if they both exist in your life why is there so much talk about one and not the other?
It’s a distraction! A way to confuse and deceive, an end around from the Devil to distract us from the truth—keep them talking about themselves and not focusing on God. The Devil wins, and they lose. They’re quick to talk about what keeps them out of the gym, slow to talk about what they should do to walk into Heaven. But at least everyone knows about their sore shoulder or bulging waistline.
We need to get on the right side of this… We’re not called to be servants for the Devil; we are called to be warriors for the Lord—we need to get this straight.
Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. (Hebrews 12:1)
Notice the Bible says, “every weight.” Sin is not the only thing that hinders us in the race God has set for us. If we are living in sin, we have to quit it. But it’s important to realize there are other things that are not blatant sins that will hinder us in our race.
Just as a runner will remove bulky clothes or anything of weight to achieve the best results, we have to rid ourselves of things that keep us from getting maximum results. These weights can differ from person to person, but things that occupy our time and keep us from the pursuit of God’s word are certainly weights in our spiritual race.
But all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced. (Mark 4:19)
How did Jesus run His race? We know that He won His race, but how? He was focused on “the joy that was set before him.”(Hebrew 12:2) Jesus endured pain and suffering as no one else ever has. He not only endured this in the physical realm as He bore the sickness and disease of the whole world, but He also suffered spiritually as He literally became sin for us.
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin so that we could be made right with God through Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Yet He wasn’t occupied with the suffering but with the spoils of victory for the Kingdom.
To endure hardship, we have to follow this example of Jesus and fix our eyes on the good and not the bad. Jesus wasn’t oblivious to the suffering coming His way. We can see that during His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, the night before His crucifixion, He revealed His anguish to His Father and asked to accomplish His will in another way. But when He understood that there was no other way, He put the suffering behind Him and focused on the joy that would come to you and me as the result of His sacrifice.
Whatever we focus our attention on becomes bigger and more dominant in our lives. Whatever we fail to focus our attention on begins to shrink in importance and influence.
We are the ones who place value or lack of value on everything that happens to us. That’s why people who go through the same things will have different reactions. Some become obsessed with the problem, while others can place a different value on what happened and move on by trusting God.
Controlling our thinking controls our endurance. Anyone who is weary and prone to quitting has already been thinking wrong. It’s not what happens to us on the outside that causes these reactions; it’s how we “think” about what happens to us that causes us to succeed or fail.
Look at Jesus. He suffered more rejection, injustice and pain than any of us will ever have to. And yet He didn’t just survive; He thrived. He extended forgiveness to the very ones crucifying Him. If He could do that, we can do that.
We thrive when we follow the scriptures and the life of Jesus Christ. We shouldn’t be focused on the pain but rather on the promise on the other side of the pain. If we look to the prize to be obtained instead of the race to be run, we will be able to endure, just as Jesus was able to.
Many of us lack the willpower and the discipline to read the Bible every day. So many people say, “I wish I could read the Bible, but I just can’t find the time,” or “I know I should, but it’s just so very hard for me to understand.” However, many of these same people don’t have a problem defending the Bible. They know that the Bible is God’s gift to them and that the revelations within can be life-changing.
They defend the Bible’s truths; however, they still don’t pick it up and read it. This is not only the purest example of a lack of willpower that I know, but it is also the reason God is not the ruler of this world for over two-thirds of its inhabitants. And many who are proclaimed Christians.
Satan sets stumbling stones, not cornerstones. Satan is the architect of the antonyms of willpower. Weakness, self-indulgence, lack of restraint, absence of conviction, wavering commitment, watering down the Word—you name it—the devil exploits it.
The Devil is absolutely delighted when you spend your time and energy defending the Bible, as long as you do not get around to actually reading it. When you let the world dictate what you do, and that directly opposes what you know you ought to do… you lose!
Jesus didn’t only talk about standing up against the Devil; He had the willpower and discipline to actually take up the battle and go to war against him. If we are truly striving to become like Jesus Christ, we have to do as Jesus did. We cannot simply talk about what we should do; we must actually do it. You have the power of Jesus inside of you! Do you have the discipline? Do you have the will?
If you are not reading the Bible daily, pick it up and start now. Recognize the need in your life. Recognize the call to action. Stand up for good! Stand up against evil! Stand up for your Lord! If you’re going to fight, don’t do it empty-handed. Read the Bible and take up the Sword. “Fight the good fight of Faith” (1 Timothy 6:12)
“I tell you the Truth”
Read The Bible
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