RUN LIKE A CHAMPION

The ultimate test of the victorious Christian life is whether a person has done with his life what he was created to do. The proof of victory comes when we cross the finish line of life and step into eternity. It’s when we hear these words from heaven: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21 kjv). Victorious Christian living is always in accord with our purpose in life.
Unfortunately, many people have no idea what their purpose in life should be. When the Soviet Union collapsed, my wife and I were traveling to Siberia and had to stay overnight in Moscow. We lodged in the home of a lady who was an atheist, a professor in the university. She asked what we would be doing in Siberia. When I told her we were going to speak to people about Christ, she asked what subject I would speak on. I told her I was going to speak the first day on the purpose of life. She became very animated. “Oh, I wish I could go to hear you,” she said. “I don’t have any purpose in life.”
She is like most people I have met. They have no idea why they were created. They were born, grow up, get a job, get married, have children, grow old, and die. Yet many have never consider why they were created. They are some of the most disillusioned people. They are like the story about a man in the center of New York City who is lost. He walks up to a policeman and asks for help. The policeman asks where he wants to go. The man replies, “I don’t know.” Many people are just like that. They have no idea where they are headed.
Others have a purpose. It’s just the wrong one. They frantically try to climb the ladder of success, popularity, or power. They think the accumulation of wealth, fame, or position is the true purpose of life. But they will be the most disappointed. They won’t be able to take their money, houses, cars, or influence with them into eternity. They are like a person who has a ladder, puts it against a wall, and climbs it as fast as he can. But when he gets to the top, he discovers he put his ladder against the wrong wall.
But there’s a third kind of person when it comes to the purpose of life. This person has found life’s true purpose. Therefore, this person is the most fulfilled. But that brings up an extremely important question: What is the real purpose of life? When life is over, what should we have accomplished? Jesus gave the simple but profound answer: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:37-39).
The real purpose of life is as simple as that: love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. The world would be a much better place if everyone did those two things. Ultimately, the victorious Christian life will be judged by how we loved God and loved others. It’s out of that sense of purpose that the rest of our victory flows.