Victory

I remember my father loved to play games.  Two of his favorites were backgammon and scrabble and I have very fond memories of those times.  But much as I remember playing games as a child, I don’t recall if I was very competitive in nature.  My husband’s family, on the other hand, loved to play games and win. I remember my debut with playing cards around my in-laws dining room table with their relatives and my first “beginner’s luck” win!  The victory was sweet to say the least.  In the past couple of years, my husband and I and have gotten into the routine of playing cards with his dad.  Unfortunately, I have found that victory is more important to me than I’d like to think.  I literally have gotten angry when I am not winning and annoyed in so many ways.  However (and this doesn’t make sense), if I am winning too much, I genuinely feel sorry for my partners, and have been known to throw a game or two.  Why is victory so important to us?  Losing and winning the game can tell a lot about who we are as a people.  Is the victory so important that it doesn’t matter the cost?  How do we feel when our favorite sports team loses a game?  For some it may feel like the end of world, or at least the end of the season.  I wonder many times what it feels like for the players that lost.  We can go on with our lives and nothing has changed in our world.  But the sweet smell of a victory that slipped through our fingers shows our character.  When any of us lose, it’s not the winning that shows who we are, but how we lose, recover and keep going towards the prize.  Whether the prize is in the victory of winning a game of cards or winning the Super Bowl, how we feel about ourselves as the victors is the most important.   Have you ever thought to just be grateful for the many victories you’ve experienced during your lifetime?   You and I should be so thankful for the simple victory of waking up every morning!  Our most important victory each and every day is staying focused on our walk of faith.  Because if we win that game, even when there are days we feel we’ve lost, it’s what we do afterwards that counts.  We get back up, we put on our armor of faith, always knowing that God is the ultimate victory, and He roots for you and me every single day. 

“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.”  1 John 5:4