Sacrifice, Suffering, & Pain
Very few significant accomplishments in life come without these three choices. I wrestled like Jacob, or should I say Isreal, when deciding on how to describe these three game changers. “Choices” seemed to be the most fitting choice of description.
Sadly, most people spend their life trying to accomplish their dreams and goals, while at the same time doing all they can to avoid sacrifice, suffering, and pain. In other words, most people defeat themselves by their unwillingness to pay the price.
The greatest price ever paid is and will always be our example to follow. Jesus Christ over 2000 years ago became the greatest sacrifice of all-time by suffering and willingly enduring the greatest pain known to man – The Roman Crucifixion!
As our eternities weighed in the balance, the Savior of the World, endured a pain I cannot fairly describe. Yet what level of pain, sacrifice, and suffering are you willing to endure just to win a game?
A mother, not a father, knows best in this case as childbirth is the best example of a human being willing to suffer and endure pain for the joy set before them, a precious child made in the image of God. Yet, many sadly choose to abort that gift from God. I see that as no different than athletes choosing to abort success by refusing to choose a little suffering, sacrifice, and pain to help their teams succeed.
If you are blessed enough to have the God given talent to be on a good team someday, then I pray you realize the power of the choice you have to make.
Sacrifice playing time, your stats, your goals, and anything else necessary to help the team bring glory to our King,
Second, you must be willing to suffer. Enduring daily getting up early, disciplining your diet, lifting weights, increase flexibility, endurance training, and above all committing to winning the spiritual battle prior to overcoming any physical battles. No real success comes without willingly suffering.
Lastly, no pain, no gain As Jesus brother Jude said in Jude 1:3. You must be willing to contend (fight) for your faith! The word he used is “EPAGONIZOMAI”, where our word “Agony” comes from. Pain produces adversity, which produces endurance, which produces strength and courage, which produces victory and the ultimate prize in a contest.
Jesus paid the price for us! Salvation is far from free, the cross was the ultimate cost, so all you have to do is ask Him to be your Savior and ask Him to join you in the Fight! When you make that decision, it welcomes the Power of the Holy Spirit into you and as your faith, knowledge, and relationship with Jesus increases, the results are often unexplainable.
Coaches like to encourage you to do hard things so that you are hard to kill. I prefer doing impossible things and being impossible to kill, not by my strength or my power, but because of the Spirit that lives in me!
You have access to the exact same Jesus and Holy Spirit! So what are you waiting for? Jesus said, ““I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear [to hear] them now. But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth [full and complete truth]. For He will not speak on His own initiative, but He will speak whatever He hears [from the Father—the message regarding the Son], and He will disclose to you what is to come [in the future]. He will glorify and honor Me, because He (the Holy Spirit) will take from what is Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Because of this I said that He [the Spirit] will take from what is Mine and will reveal it to you.”
John 16:12-15 AMP