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Written by Abigail Baumgartner, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister in Louisiana
“Do you remember how, on a racing-track, every competitor runs, but only one wins the prize? Well, you ought to run with your minds fixed on winning the prize! Every competitor in athletic events goes into serious training. Athletes will take tremendous pains—for a fading crown of leaves. But our contest is for an eternal crown that will never fade. I run the race then with determination. I am no shadow-boxer, I really fight! I am my body’s sternest master, for fear that when I have preached to others I should myself be disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:24-27, PHILLIPS).
Growing up as an elite-level competitive swimmer, I always appreciated Paul's words to the Corinthians in all their intensity. As a swimmer, I worked hard to achieve my goals, whether moving to a better training group, reaching a time standard, or winning a race. The "run the race" metaphor Paul uses to talk about the Christian life made sense to me and drove home that need for Christians to be determined and disciplined. Today, though, as I write about Paul and "running the race," I remember how I once misunderstood this passage. Though I appreciated Paul's intensity, some messages I picked up through my childhood in competitive sports hindered me from understanding the beautiful goal of this race.
As a young swimmer, I learned I was solely responsible for my success or failure. The individual-sport-culture convinced me that if anything went wrong, I need only look in the mirror to see why. In a sense, this is true. Making a habit of missing practice, staying up too late, or eating only junk food demonstrates a lack of discipline. Still, the message I heard was that any shortcoming was unacceptable. So, when there were days when I did not sleep, eat, or train to perfection, I condemned myself just for being human. I learned that, in sports, you had to be your own savior; there was no grace, no redemption. For someone with perfectionistic tendencies, this was not a helpful message.
In fact, I struggled for years to reconcile this deeply ingrained athletic principle with what I knew about my God. From a young age, I knew that all sin separated me from God (Rom. 3:23), but that God had redeemed my life through the blood of Jesus (Rom. 3:24). I accepted that gift through baptism at 12 years old. Still, I felt a disconnect between what I'd been taught as an athlete and what I knew to be true as a Christian. Whenever I read 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, I always squirmed a little; for me, it was just another call to race toward perfection by sheer force of will.
Thankfully, I found new freedom and depth in these verses during my first year of college while swimming for Louisiana State University. That year, as a major competition approached, I was overcome with fears that I had not done enough. For example…
What about that time three weeks ago when I didn't hit my paces in practice?
I shouldn't have had pizza last week.
It's 11 pm, and I'm STILL NOT ASLEEP!
Amidst this mental warfare, I cried out to God, and He drew me near, reminding me that He is "… one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all" (Eph. 4:6, ESV). God reminded me that He was not just the Lord of my life in a spiritual sense, redeeming me of my sin, but Lord over all aspects of my life. He reminded me again of His power over sin and death, of how He created and saved me... did I really think He would abandon me in a race of any kind?
What I learned then—and cling to now—is that God never asked me to run toward perfection. He asked me to “throw off everything that hinders” me and run toward Him (Heb. 12:1, NIV). The race Paul talks about is not a robotic checking of boxes and the prize is not perfection. The race is about the wonderful chance to know God and make Him known—God is the purpose and the prize.
Though I retired from competitive swimming in 2021, I continue to treasure my new understanding of what matters in running any metaphorical or literal race. As a student, friend, daughter, worker, mentor, or athlete, I know the true prize and purpose of my race are found in Christ alone. I praise God for those years of swimming that taught me I cannot save myself. Now, knowing my gracious Savior, I can glorify God for the beauty of His redemption that does not stop at the water's edge but flows in, out, over, across, and through every piece of my race in unexpected, awe-inspiring ways.
How has God used pieces of your story to make scripture come alive in your life?
In what areas of your life do you need to let go of perfection and run toward God?
#IronRoseSister #HIStories #runtherace #notaboutperfection #runtoGod #guestwriter #blog
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Written by Deanna Brooks, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas
In 2 Timothy 4:7 Paul writes: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Think on those words, then look at verse 8 where he follows those thoughts by saying, “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”
What do we know about Paul? Why was he able to write with such confidence?
We first meet Paul in Acts 7:58 where he is called by his Jewish name Saul, holding the garments of those stoning Stephen, then Acts 8:1 tells us Saul approved the execution. This makes us think he already had some authority among Jewish leaders.
Paul tells a little about himself in 1 Corinthians 15:9, 10: “For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain…”
We learn more in Philippians 3:5,6: “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”
Paul was born a Jew, and his parents followed Jewish law and circumcised him when he was eight days old, according to the law God gave Abraham in Genesis 17:12.
Paul was a Pharisee, a teacher of the law, and he was zealous to fight against anything that challenged the purity of Israel or of the law.
He was a persecutor of the church and willing to use violence to protect the law of Moses. He believed the early Christians were blasphemers against a holy God. Paul would have remembered Leviticus 24:10-16 where God was blasphemed and knew this was a serious offense. He lived blamelessly according to how he understood the law to be.
As a faithful Jew he offered the appropriate sacrifices and kept the feast days and purity laws, and he would have expected others to do the same.
Paul grew up in Jerusalem and studied at the school of Gamaliel (a leading authority in the Sanhedrin) according to Acts 22:3. Because of his schooling, we assume he was from a wealthy family. His birthplace, Tarsus, about 620 miles from Jerusalem, dated back to 1900 BC, and was an important trade city in what we know as modern-day Turkey.
Paul had access to power, to money, and to the prestige of high social standing… all of which he gave up to follow Jesus.
In Philippians 3:7-8 Paul writes: “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”
Paul had given up everything from his early life in order to be a disciple of the Christ.
Because Paul went to the Gentiles, he did not speak of “virtue” since they would have thought of the four Greek virtues: justice, courage, temperance, and prudence. Instead, Paul spoke of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…and he encouraged Christians to build these into their lives.
Paul tells us his goal in Philippians 3:10: “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”
He encourages us to forget what’s behind and press on remembering the goal that’s in front of us (Phil. 3:14-15.)
Paul tells the Sanhedrin in Acts 23:1: “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” Because he had done what he thought God wanted him to do, when Jesus got his attention on the road to Damascus, Paul was receptive to the message of Jesus.
Before Paul began persecuting Christians, it is probable that he studied this new faith because of wanting to do what was right, so he may have already known something about what the disciples did and believed.
The apostle Paul, born a citizen of Rome, reminds us that our citizenship is in heaven and we await a Savior who will transform us (Phil. 3:20-21; 4:1), so “stand firm in the LORD.”
In standing firm, we, too, can say with Paul, “I have kept the faith…a crown of righteousness is waiting.”
Quotations are ESV.
#IronRoseSister #HIStories #Paul #runtherace #keepthefaith #standfirm #crownofrighteousness #guestwriter #blog