Competence - developing our skills in living the life – 10 January 2008

Living the Christian life is a struggle and there are no short cuts! But one thing we can do is to train – to increase our competency, to develop our skills in Christian living.

John Ortberg in “An Ordinary Day with Jesus” talks about how as Christians we tend to put a lot of reliance on “trying harder” – when something doesn’t work out we tell ourselves that we must try harder, or worse we tell others that they must try harder.

But trying harder won’t give us success – how many people have run a marathon by trying? But most people could run a marathon by training. Ortberg says that to train for something means arranging our lives around activities we can do that will enable us, over time, to do what we cannot do by direct effort alone.

Paul uses the same illustrations of the need to train for living the Christian life, or “running the race” as he puts it.

“Remember that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize. You also must run in such a way that you will win. All athletes practice strict self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I am not like a boxer who misses his punches. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.” 1 Cor 9:24-27 (NIV)

Runners go into strict training so they can win a perishable crown. We are to go into training to get a crown that will last forever.

How can you re-arrange your life around activities that will enable you, over time, to do and to become all that God wants for you?