Real Strength - 2/9/06

Philippians 2:14-17, "Do everything without complaining or arguing. Then... you will be God's children without fault. But you are living with crooked and mean people all around you, among whom you shine like stars in a dark world. You offer the teaching that gives life. So when Christ comes again, I can be happy because my work was not wasted. I ran the race and won. Your faith makes you offer your lives as a sacrifice in serving God."

"I ran the race and won." I wrote about running the race on the 1st, and was unaware of this reference until I passed through Philippians this evening. I received that as confirmation that God directed me here to again emphasize "live your faith," since our lives and decisions reflect what it is we truly believe.

Part of living your faith is doing what is right and what God commands -- even when nobody is looking. That's integrity. Not many people possess that character trait anymore. Now, accountability is the focus because we tend to take the shortcut when nobody's looking. This passage began with verse 12, "...It is even more important that you obey now while I am away from you." If we can't be trusted to be obedient to God when we're alone, how can He trust us to be obedient and use us, living with crooked and mean people all around us as the passage says?

This is part of running the race. This is real strength. The world would have us believe being strong means projecting a distorted image of manhood, but that is not strength. How much intestinal fortitude does it really take to give in to every temptation? Real strength comes from saying, "No," not "yes." It takes real strength to choose God's will over your own.

That's running with endurance. That is offering your life as a sacrifice in serving God. Living that way -- according to the love and forgiveness of His teaching -- is what makes us shine like stars in a dark world. Offering that light to others provides the opportunity to offer also the teaching that gives life. And, living in that light provides the joy that allows us to run with endurance, to keep the faith.