God loves you and He wants your life to be a success not a failure. God wants you to achieve your potential. In life you will face difficulties and discouragements, criticisms and negative circumstances, tears and maybe tragedy. But in all, through all and overall God wants you to be what the apostle Paul calls ‘more than conquerors.’ Jesus said, ‘what will it profit a man who gains the whole world but loses his soul.’ Success in life is knowing God through Jesus Christ and being the unique person you are created to be. Being a winner is learning to overcome in all circumstances. The Bible is full of examples of people who experienced trials and failure, yet they came through to become great men and women of God.
Jesus Himself was the greatest overcomer. John 16:33 says 'I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.' Jesus overcame temptation, sicknesses, demonic power, storms, accusations, opposition, suffering and death itself. And because He lives, we can live also as overcomers. John constantly emphasises this in his first epistle: 1 John 4:4 says 'You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world' and 1 John 5:4 continues 'for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.'
In other words, God wants you to overcome everything that would be an obstacle to you. He wants you to win over: sin (evil thoughts, sexual temptations, and wrong actions); bad attitudes of anger, jealously, stubbornness, rebellion and rejection; negative personal history; poor self-image; tough circumstances; financial problems; health problems; relational problems and more!
One of the great secrets of overcoming is that we win when we make the right decisions. Wrong decisions will bring loss, trouble and even death (Proverbs 14:12). The right decisions will result in great blessings to enrich your life and bring you eternal life. The choices or decisions you make today will greatly impact your life and those of your loved ones, both now and in the future (Deuteronomy 30:19). Many of the biggest decisions we make in the life are made when we are younger: where to study, who to marry, whether we will live God’s way or our way. That’s why it is so important to remember your creator in the days of your youth.
But what do you do if you have already made wrong decisions, maybe even some very big wrong decisions? Is there a way back? And if so, how? In the story Jesus told of the Prodigal Son, we see a son who made decisions that he thought were best for him at the time, but which turned out to be disastrous. No doubt he never imagined that his decisions would land him in such a mess. Maybe you can identify with that. Whatever bad decisions you have made, you can learn from this story how to make good decisions:
1. He decided to face the reality of his life (Luke 15:17)
2. He decided to leave the life he was living (Luke 15:18; Isaiah 55:7; Matthew 4:20-22)
3. He decided to humble himself (Luke 15:18-19; James 4:6)
4. He decided to get right with His father (Luke 15:20-24; Malachi 4:6)
Apply
What is the state of your heart and mind right now? How healthy are your relationships? How are you doing financially? And above all what spiritual condition are you in? Are you fully and fervently pursuing the call of God on your life or have you lost your fire? The Prodigal Son freely admitted that was not the person he was brought up to be. He had lost touch with his family, wasted opportunities and was not in a good place. Today in contrast to the Prodigal Son, many people, both Christian and non-Christian, find it hard to be honest about the condition of their hearts and lives. They live in denial and prefer to blame others (e.g. parents, teachers, their husband/wife/kids, their leader). Of course some of this may be true, but whether it’s your fault like the Prodigal’s undisciplined spending or some external circumstance like the famine, what matters is that you face into the current condition of your life. Are you living close to God or have you wandered far from your Heavenly Father? The first decision you need to make is to get real about the real state of your life right now. The second decision you need to make to win in life is to move beyond your mistakes or even the mess that is none of your fault. To be a Christian you have to make a decision to leave a life of sin and self-focus (Isaiah 55:7). To follow Jesus means that we totally break with an old way of life and former behaviour.
Have you made the decision to humble yourself before God and to get right with your loving Heavenly Father? The Prodigal son came to a place where he was no longer full of himself but was now willing to serve in any capacity. He didn’t care about his status or appearance, he was just happy to be in the Father’s house. Having a humble attitude is a big key to winning in life. When we humble ourselves before God we will be blessed (James 4:6). Reconciliation with a father, natural or spiritual, is necessary for winning in life (Malachi 4:6): maybe you need to humble yourself with your father. And, if you haven’t already, this is the time to reconcile with God your Heavenly father. When you come back to Him with repentance and humility you can be confident that you will receive the best welcome (Luke 15:20-24). Today you can celebrate a new life of hope and conquest when you make the best decision to come home to God and follow His Son Jesus.
