Run for God - Week 3 - Run YOUR Race

"You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?"  —Galatians 5:7

There are so many things I could say about this weeks topic. It really has changed the way I view running (and other areas of my life) I think this kind of "sums it up"

 

Maybe you are struggling with comparing yourself to others. I do. I tell you more about my competitive spirit here. It's ingrained in our culture. Supermodels on the cover of magazines. There are one million and one diet plans and weight loss "secrets". We see competition in the workplace... we compare the size of our house or car... Man when I come to think about it, everything we are surrounded with is an opportunity for us to compare ourselves (and the things we have) with others.

 

Week 3 is about challenging ourselves to seek God's path for our lives. It's not always. In fact, sometimes, it is down right hard. But, I promise when you run the race he has laid out it will be rewarding. You will feel joy and peace that no medal, new "friend", shiny car, house, or other possessions can yield.

 

Here's an exert from Chapter 3 that really helps to clarify our race:

 

In Galatians 5:7, Paul asks the Galatians why they stopped running their race. Jesus had given them a specific race to run—one of freedom, grace, and love. Unfortunately, they got sucked back into following the requirements of the Law; they were burdened again by trying to earn God’s favor. They’d lost the joy and peace that they’d received through the simple belief and trust in Jesus. Basically, they’d stopped running their race.

For me, it’s so tempting to return to my old ways of trying to earn God’s favor—to be performance-driven, to be ―good enough,‖ to follow the rules, to think that God is only pleased with me when I’m achieving or doing things just right. But this is a burden of slavery. And it’s a lie. We are saved by grace, and we are changed by His Spirit. It’s not something we do; it’s something He alone can do in us.

So, don’t get derailed by what someone else is doing. Don’t let the emotion of the moment get you off course. Don’t let your old ways of doing things make you abandon the new. Run your race. Stick to His plan and let God keep you on the path that leads to life.

 

In week 3, we also had a great opportunity to have Reggie Luther from Big Dog Running Company. Discuss shoes with us. I'm so thankful for his presentation and all Big Dog does for the running community.

 

As always, if you are following along for the workouts. Week 3's workout is

5 min warm up, 90 sec run; 90 sec walk; 3 min run; 3 min walk (repeat once) 5 min cool down/ stretch